Holiness in Seeing

Many of Andrei Tarkovsky’s films have a sustained scene of someone washing dirt off their hands. The reference to the Christian concept of washing away our sins is obvious, considering that Tarkovsky’s vision regarding the art of cinema was influenced heavily by his Russian Orthodox Christianity and the viewer can see an abundant use of Christian imagery in his works. What I love about this scene is the sense of holiness that he imbues in an act that seems so everyday, almost banal. How many times do we actually think about the washing of hands while we wash our hands?

Tarkovsky slows down the movement of the hands and does such a close-up with the camera that the hands almost don’t look like hands at a first glance. This kind of focus and pace creates an intense awareness of what is happening, which makes what is happening appear foreign, something outside of this world. 

When we pay attention, what we look at can seem either very bizarre or sacred. What determines the sacredness of something rather than its strangeness might have something to do with how much preciousness we choose to find in what we are seeing. Think about the last time somebody fell asleep next to you. There is so much preciousness in that moment as you look at this person in their deepest vulnerability. You realize the preciousness of every living being, regardless of their personal relationship to you, for the sheer fact that they exist in front of you at this moment. Or even for the sheer fact that they simply exist even if you will never see them. They become tinged with the touch of God.