Did anyone wondered what was wrong with the wife at the begining?

I believe they didn't have intercourse in a while,
and yet he heads back to zone again. She's jealous.

Just joking.

In 60s, 70s etc, in Russia, just as well as in most other
eastern Europe countries, women were treated to have not
a real much of an influence in anything, and I think this
is her crying out loud because she's feeling helpless.

But there is a different interpretation which you can find
in the book: "A Visual Fuge : The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky"
by Vida T. Johnson. Good book with a lot of interesting new
interpretations on scenes from all of Tarkovsky movies.

Anyway, being from south-east Europe I kind of understand the
behavior of his wife and it doesn't seem over-reacted...
It's just a cultural thing hard to understand if you don't have
east European ancestors.

The film is in a word brilliant. Just as well as most of his other
movies...

I have to say I found that portion of the scene did drag on a bit.
Her reaction was understandable given the concerns she expresses prior to him leaving. The Zone is a dangerous place. He may be killed there, or be imprisoned again. Once she mentions their daughter, she breaks down.

They could have cut 30 seconds from the floor writhing part and the scene wouldn't have lost its gravity.
In my opinion.

Actually, I was surprised that the scene should be so overtly sexual. She was trembling as if having an orgasm. Her nipples were visible and underlined by the light. I was reminded of the clip for Cabaret Voltaire's "I Want You". I thought the scene was unusual for Soviet cinema, as well as for this particular film. The characters don't swear even mildly and are exaggeratedly polite to each other.

I don't know if the other Russians in the thread are joking, but it emphatically did not seem like an ordinary scene of a woman crying in a Russian film.

I checked out the internet for some additional literature in Russian. Evidently, it was not the first time they filmed the scene, and the previous scenes were even more in-your-face erotic.

The book argues that the abandoned wife represents the natural in men, which they abandon in search of the transcendental. Sounds convincing to me, quite consistent with the rather sexist view of women as representing "wholesome nature".

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It didn't look like any epilepsy attack I've seen for sure... I think its just supposed to be an expression of extreme frustration and despair. Granted, it too thought it was maybe a little over the top on my first viewing, her laying and squirming like that, but remember; this is film not reality and I think it worked terrificly in capturing the mood of the people in the film, and the possible terror facing them in the zone. The actors should not be seen as documenting real people, but rather, people projecting our own fears and uncertainties for the unknown, maybe :-)

God, I've never read so many uninformed comments on one thread. Has anyone read he original book the movie was based on, Roadside Picnic? If not, you should. It's even better & far stranger than this film. Also it provides a lot of clues that people here could use. The kid, AKA the Monkey, is only partially human & the whole family are outcasts due to the Stalker's repeated exposure to all the toxic substances & radiation in the Zone.

Get a life, folks. Or at least grow some imagination (i.e. stop watching blockbuster Hollywood mind-polluters).

It wasn't epilepsy but it WAS over-acting.

I was almost laughing at her slowly falling down the chair. Most people will sit down on chair or on floor to cry but she just went over-board writing on the floor. It was just.. bad.

I understand why she was crying, but the reaction was just over the top.

Yep. I also think that was a bit over the top. May be its a russian thing. We (pakistanis and Indians also very emotional but even we dont cry like that). A bit weird seeing her crying like that. I also thought that she had an asthma attack.