The Stalking

A man works illegally as a "Stalker", someone who leads people through "the Zone", an area where normal laws of physics supposedly do not apply, and remains of seemingly extraterrestrial activity exist among its ruins. At the heart of the Zone lies a "Room" that is said to grant the wishes of anyone who steps inside. The government has fenced off the Zone, subjecting Stalkers to harsh prison time if caught crossing the border. The Stalker has just returned from a long prison sentence to his wife and young daughter. To his wife's horror, a disaffected writer and a physics professor immediately hire the Stalker to guide them through the Zone. Needing the money, he meets the Writer and Professor in a rundown bar-café, warning them that they must do what he says to survive the dangers that lie ahead. He explains that the Zone is a living thing that visitors must respect and warns that, within the Zone, the straightest path is not always the shortest route. The group evades the Zone's military guards by following a train through the gate, riding into the heart of the Zone on a railway work car.[n 1] The Zone is a region of natural wilderness scattered with such human remnants as old abandoned industrial facilities, corpses, guns, and tanks. The Stalker cautiously tests for anomalies or unknown dangers by throwing metal nuts tied to strips of cloth ahead of their path. As they slowly make their way toward the Room, the Stalker warns that the Zone contains supernatural hazards, though none directly emerge during their journey. The three men discuss their reasons for wanting to visit the Room as they traverse the land. The Writer expresses his fear of losing his inspiration. The Professor seems less anxious, but insists on carrying along a backpack and, when he leaves it in one area, he even insists on retrieving it against the Stalker's warnings. The Professor admits to hoping to win a Nobel Prize for scientific analysis of the Zone. The Stalker insists that he has no motive beyond the altruistic aim of aiding the desperate to their desires; he mentions that his mentor, another Stalker named "Porcupine", obtained great riches by entering the Room but then hanged himself when he returned home. After travelling through fields and tunnels, the three men come upon an especially long, dark, ominous passageway, and they draw lots with some matches, determining that the Writer will go first. Nervously, he passes through without harm, shocking the Stalker, who later reveals that this tunnel, which he calls the "meat grinder", kills anyone who the Zone deems morally unworthy. The Writer forges ahead into an indoor area with sand dunes, and he delivers a soliloquy directly to camera about the futility of knowledge and feeling overwhelmed and criticized by other people. He then turns around, reuniting with the other two in an antechamber, where the Stalker reveals that Porcupine sent his (Porcupine's) brother ahead of him into the meat grinder, where the brother was killed. The Stalker then recites a poem about never being satisfied, and the Writer expresses anger with the Stalker for assuming he was morally unworthy. Suddenly, a phone in the antechamber rings. The surprised Professor decides to use it to call an old enemy scientist, gloating about finding the Room. As the trio prepare to enter the Room, the Professor reveals his true intentions: he has brought a 20-kiloton bomb in his backpack to destroy the Room and therefore prevent evil men from abusing it for gain. He blames the Room, the Stalkers, and their clients for the recent rise of crime, political strife, and destructive science. The Stalker tries to grab the bomb away from the Professor but, after a brief fight, the Writer subdues him. The Stalker weeps, claiming that only the Room has given him meaning in his otherwise pitiful life and that the Room is the last beacon of hope for humanity. The Writer deduces that the Stalker's mentor, Porcupine, hanged himself because of the guilt the Room caused him when it presented him with riches rather than the return of his deceased brother, showing that Porcupine subconsciously desired wealth over love. Thus, the Writer describes the Room's ability to grant one's deepest and most secret desire as additionally providing a window into the morality of one's soul. The Writer suggests that it is impossible to use the Room for selfish reasons because nobody can know their deepest subconscious desires. The Professor's fears soothed, he dismantles the bomb. The three men sit just outside the Room in silence; none attempt to enter it. The Stalker, the Writer, and the Professor are met back outside the Zone at the bar-café by the Stalker's wife and daughter. The Stalker returns home in total distress, lamenting to his wife how humanity has lost its capacity for faith, which is needed to traverse the Zone and live a good life. As the Stalker sleeps, his wife contemplates their relationship in a soliloquy delivered to the camera. S…