Movies - Solaris

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	Movies - Solaris

Solaris (Russian title in Cyrillic lettering: Солярис—English transliteration: "Solyaris") is a 1972 Russian film and is also a 2002 US film. Both films are based on the novel Solaris by Polish author Stanisław Lem.

Tarkovsky's 1972 version

The 1972 Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, features scenes filmed in Japan and the Soviet Union by cinematographer Vadim Yusov. It has achieved a measure of cult film status. Stylistically it has similarities with Tarkovsky's Zerkalo (Mirror) and Stalker films - particularly using the symbolism of water and nature. Tarkovsky's Solaris is at heart about relationships between humans and the relationship between humans and the Divine.

The released film was edited down by a half hour. The original length was 165 minutes.

The introduction to Solaris is very long and slow, and has nothing of the drama and pace it gains later. It begins with Kris Kelvin visiting his parents' dacha knowing that he may well not return while they are still alive. There are many shots of nature, and in particular the lake by the house, which re-emerge later in various sequences. (Solaris is an ocean world, and there are some echoes of it in the home lake). Later Kelvin watches the science academy's report of the bizarre occurrences on the Solaris station, in particular the testimony of Burton, which is totally disbelieved by the other scientists. We see Burton later on, in a long sequence, involving busy car traffic in Japan. Many people feel this sequence to be too long, and appearing early on in the film alienates some viewers. On direct question from the Soviet censor overseeing the production, Tarkovsky said he made this sequence boring on purpose: "so that the idiots leave before the actual movie starts". Stanisław Lem, the novelist, disliked the film precisely because of the director's snobbery.

Proceeding to the station, Kelvin finds himself surrounded by refuse, and a bizarre child who he glimpses for a mere moment. On further investigation, he finds that one of the crew members has committed suicide, and that another is probably insane. He soon realizes that Solaris can create "visitors," people from their past that they have loved or even from fantasies they have had. Kelvin himself eventually receives a visitor, his ex-wife who died 10 years before, whom he tries, and fails to kill. The longer she lives, the more of an independent being she becomes, and not a mere projection of his memory.

One of the unforgettable parts of Solaris is Bach's chorale prelude for organ, "Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" ("I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ"), BWV 639, which is heard four times throughout the movie. (In general, Tarkovsky seems to have been quite fond of Bach, as his later film, The Sacrifice features the similarly haunting aria "Erbarme dich, Mein Gott" from Saint Matthew's Passion.)

The film also features the well-known Russian actor, Anatoli Solonitsyn in a supporting role, who was actually discovered by Tarkovsky.

Solaris and 2001

Solaris is often cited as a Russian answer to 2001: A Space Odyssey
, but this is actually untrue. Tarkovsky saw 2001 just before filming started, and he disliked the film intensely, calling it "cold and sterile".

It can be argued that "2001" deals with the relationship between humans and machines and the transformation of humanity due to those relationships, while "Solaris" deals with the relationships between humans themselves and the transformation of the individual due to those relationships. As the movie explains, "what we really need is a mirror."

Some film guides, such as Time Out, have falsely claimed Solaris to be a socialist answer to 2001, but this is demonstrably not so, since the film's uncertainty about life and the future is in direct conflict with the Marxist idea of a mechanistic theory of history and humanity, and with the Soviet government's prognostications. Tarkovsky did not involve himself with politics, and preferred to film his concerns about the lack of spirituality in modern society.

Soderbergh's 2002 version

A second adaptation of Lem's novel by US director Steven Soderbergh was released in 2002. Kris Kelvin is played by George Clooney and Harey (Rheya in the English version) by Natascha McElhone. This version of Solaris is a slow, meditative psychodrama set almost entirely on a space station; a major divergence from the novel and the Tarkovsky version is the fact that Kelvin never journeys to the surface of Solaris (in fact, the planet appears to be a star, rather than an ocean world).

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Solaris (film) ]

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Movies - Solaris

Tarkovsky's 1972 version

Solaris and 2001

Soderbergh's 2002 version

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