Solaris (1972 film)

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Solaris (1972)
Soviet poster
Directed by	Andrei Tarkovsky
Produced by	Viacheslav Tarasov
Written by	Fridrikh Gorenshtein Andrei Tarkovsky based on the novel by Stanisław Lem
Starring	Natalya Bondarchuk Donatas Banionis
Release date(s)	March 20, 1972 October 6, 1976
Running time	165 min
Country	USSR
Language	Russian
Budget	RUR 1,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Solaris (Russian: Соля́рис, Solyaris) is a 1972 Soviet film based on the novel Solaris by Polish author Stanisław Lem. It was directed by acclaimed Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky. The film is a slow, meditative psychodrama set mostly on a space station. The released film was edited down by a half hour. The original length was 165 minutes.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Adaptation 4 Responses 4.1 Solaris and 2001 5 Remake 6 Gallery 7 External links

[edit] Plot

The film 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 is some forshadowing of it in the home lake). Later Kelvin watches the science academy's report of the strange 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 the city.

Proceeding to the station, Kelvin finds it in a dishevelled, messy state. He begins hearing strange noises and seeing strange people who should not be on the station. On further investigation, he finds out that one of the crew members has committed suicide and the other two are acting strangely. Strange visitors begin appearing on the station. Kelvin himself eventually receives a visitor (his ex-wife who died 10 years before), whom he tries, and fails, to kill. At first, being a rough projection of his memories, she has to be within sight of him to live. The longer she lives, the more "real" she becomes, until finally the difference between her and a real person is so small as to be almost unnoticeable. In a scene shortly after Kelvin begins to treat his new wife as a real person, one of the crewmembers mentions that "mankind needs mankind", suggesting that alien lifeforms like Solaris are likely to be so different from us that communication with them is not worth the effort. These "visitors" that so unnerve the crewmembers are the planet's method of communication. They appeared after the scientists bombarded the planet with x-rays some time before Kelvin came - the planet noticed them and began trying to "speak", in its own alien way, by creating "visitors" out of neutrinos; people or objects that somehow complement the way that the subject's mind works. They may be people from their past or even from fantasies they have had.

The film ends with Kelvin in a sense returning back to Earth, although viewers are divided on whether he goes to a simulation of one part of Earth on the planet Solaris (as the zooming-out at the very end, showing a small piece of land floating in a large ocean, seems to suggest), whether he actually goes back to Earth, or whether he somehow stays on the space station. Another possible reading of the ending is that the return scene which the viewer sees takes place first in Kelvin's mind, then in the mind of the Ocean which has picked up his thoughts and replays them. This would imply that the Ocean has come to comprehend his emotions and a form of inter-species communication has taken place (which would contradict Lem's message that such comprehension is impossible).

In a sense, it does not matter - one of the many themes explored in the film is the subjective nature of reality. Wherever Kelvin is "really" located at the end of the film, it does not make a difference for him.

[edit] Production

Most of the film was shot in the Soviet Union (in the countryside and at a large studio at Mosfilm), but the scenes of Burton driving through the city were shot in Japan by cinematographer Vadim Yusov.^{[citation needed]}

Solaris features 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 film. In general, Tarkovsky appears to have been fond of Bach; his later film, The Sacrifice features the similarly haunting aria "Erbarme dich, Mein Gott" ("Your Compassion, My Lord") from St. Matthew Passion.

The film features Russian actor Anatoli Solonitsyn, who was actually discovered by Tarkovsky, in a supporting role.

The interior of the spaceship contains full-size reproductions of Brueghel's Months paintings, and details of The Hunters in the Snow are displayed in the film.

[edit] Adaptation

Although Tarkovsky's film is fairly faithful to the book, its author, Stanisław Lem, has said "I never really liked Tarkovsky's version". [1]. In the book Lem describes the inability of human science to properly handle a truly alien life form that is beyond human understanding, while Tarkovsky focuses on Kelvin's feelings towards his wife and the human condition in space exploration (Tarkovsky turns Gibarian's monologue from chapter six of the book into a highlight of the final library scene: "We don't need other worlds. We need mirrors".

Unlike the novel, which begins with Kelvin's spaceflight, Tarkovsky illustrates Kelvin's visit to his parents' house in the countryside prior to his departure, thus creating a contrast with the cold, sterile and alienating atmosphere of the Solaris station and questioning the concept of space exploration and its impact on the human psyche in general.

[edit] Responses

Solaris is well known in Russia and other former Soviet nations, and it has also achieved cult film status in the West.

A frequently criticized aspect of the film is the opening act, which is calm and slow-paced, with little of the drama of the rest of the film, and some viewers feel the car traffic sequence is too long to be placed so early in the film, as it alienates some viewers. When asked about this by the Soviet censor overseeing the production, Tarkovsky said he made the opening sequence boring on purpose.^{[citation needed]}

In his autobiographical documentary Voyage in Time (written a decade after Solaris), Tarkovsky says that he viewed Solaris as unsuccessful. He says that his goal was to make films "without genre", and that Solaris, even with its minimal technical dialogue and special effects, was unable to escape the genre of science fiction, unlike his later film Stalker, which he felt to have succeeded in circumventing the standard constraints of the genre.

[edit] Solaris and 2001

Solaris is often described as a Russian answer to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Tarkovsky saw 2001 just before filming started, and he disliked the film intensely, calling it "cold and sterile" [2][3].

Also some film guides, such as Time Out, have claimed Solaris to be a socialist answer to 2001,^{[citation needed]} Tarkovsky did not involve himself with politics, and preferred to film his concerns about the lack of spirituality in modern society.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Remake

Main article: Solaris (2002 film)

A second adaptation of Lem's novel by American director Steven Soderbergh was released in 2002. Kris Kelvin is played by George Clooney, and Harey (called Rheya in the 2001 version) by Natascha McElhone.

[edit] Gallery

Vadim Yusov (cinematographer) and Andrei Tarkovsky (director).	Andrei Tarkovsky (director), Anatoli Solonitsyn (actor) and Donatas Banionis (actor).	Andrei Tarkovsky (director) and Natalya Bondarchuk (actress).	Andrei Tarkovsky (director) and Vadim Yusov (cinematographer).
Donatas Banionis as Kelvin and Natalya Bondarchuk as Kelvin's ex-wife	US premiere poster	VHS cover	Italian poster

[edit] External links

• Solaris at the Internet Movie Database
• Solaris at the Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films list
• Criterion Collection essay by Phillip Lopate
• Alternative Film Guide essay on film
• Tarkovsky's Solaris and 2001: comparison between the films

v • d • e Works of Andrei Tarkovsky
Feature films	Ivan's Childhood • Andrei Rublev • Solaris • Mirror • Stalker • Nostalghia • Voyage in Time (with Tonino Guerra) • The Sacrifice
Student films	The Killers • Concentrate • There Will Be No Leave Today • The Steamroller and the Violin
Books	Sculpting In Time • Time Within Time: The Diaries 1970-1986