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| Solaris
Year: 2002
Classification: Science Fiction
Directed:
- Andrej Tarkowski
Actors/Actresses:
- Natascha Mcelhone
- Ulrich Tukur
- George Clooney
- Natascha McElhone
- Donatas Banionis
- Natalija Bondartschuk
Psychological Science Fiction
Chris Kelvin (George Clooney) is a psychiatrist who still mourns the suicide of his wife a few years before. He receives a communication from an old friend, Dr. Gibarian (Ulrich Tukur), who is doing research on a space station orbiting the planet Solaris. Gibarian asks Chris to come to the station to help with an unspecified problem that is affecting its crew. When Chris arrives at the Solaris station, he finds only two members of the crew left alive, and they are suffering from paranoia , delusions, depression and general mental mayhem. He has a hard time making sense of their explanation of events. When he goes to sleep for the night, Chris dreams of this deceased wife, Rheya (Natascha McElhone). When he wakes, he finds Rheya in his bed. This Rheya is a "visitor", a being created by Solaris that takes on an identity from the memories of the space station's crew. The three humans must try to agree upon a course of action that will safely return them to Earth.
"Solaris" is based on the novel of the same name by Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem. The film was written for the screen, directed, photographed and edited by Steven Soderbergh. (Soderbergh's cinematography and editing credits are pseudonyms.) The cast is very effective. But Solaris left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Its resolution is vague. I don't mean that it's ambiguous. I mean it's downright nebulous. I hope it was clearer in the book, which I have not read. The film also spends a lot of time in dream and flashback sequences, which may wear on some viewers' patience. "Solaris" is a very good-looking film. I like Steve Arnold and Keith Cunningham's art decoration and the images of the planet Solaris are beautiful. I recommend "Solaris" to committed science fiction fans and to fans of George Clooney. I'm not sure that there is enough in the film to hold the interest of general movie-goers.
A haunting and mesmerizing look at human loss
Solaris is a film that not everyone will walk away embracing. Many will, in fact, walk away loathing it, carrying a reaction of boredom and anger at wasting their money to see it. But others, such as myself, will come away delighted from a wonderful, cerebral film that carries with it a heavy question: What would you do if you could regain an artificial version of something you lost?
The reason many will hate Solaris is because of its deliberately slow pace with little action or dialogue. Everything spoken and seen has a significant purpose, not a moment is wasted. And many expecting a certain genre of film won't get what they want out of it, either. It isn't science fiction exactly, and it's not really a romance or horror. It's a film that takes elements of all these to create a simple story about irreplaceable loss and what you might do if you somehow found a way to replace it with a shadow of its former self.
The film, a remake of a 1972 film of the same name, and based on a book by Stanislaw Lem, follows psychiatrist Chris Kelvin (George Clooney) who is assigned to visit a space station orbiting the planet Solaris. Something strange is going on and a team sent to investigate it never returned. Kelvin, who has some experience with the crew, is the owning company's last chance before giving up on the station. When Kelvin arrives, there are only two crew members left. When his deceased wife suddenly appears at his bedside, Kelvin gets wrapped up in the strange goings-on, and tries to get to the bottom of things. But one of the themes of this film is some things in life have no answers, as Kelvin soon discovers. What really makes this film work is the way it presents questions and ideas such as these, leaving the audience time to ponder them. As Kelvin learns his resurrected wife isn't quite real, the viewer is forced to consider if they would want to live with an imitation of a lost love, or rely only on memories. And the question of the accuracy of memory is also raised. How well do we remember how people truly were?
What really aides the tone of Solaris is its mixing of genres. There are many science fiction touches, and the film seems to use much of the visual style of 2001, A Space Odyssey. But the experience is more human and intimate then that large scale film. It uses some horror elements, including an unsettling score and a potentially scary situation, much like in the film Event Horizon. But it never becomes in your face scary, it's held back a notch. There is romance through flashbacks, as Kelvin remembers the love he once had, and how he lost it. But the somber tone drowns out any happiness there once was. This mix, combined with wonderfully scripted yet simple dialogue create a haunting atmosphere that will open the door to hours of discussion after the film. Much of that discussion will revolve around the film's cryptic ending. It's a conclusion that everyone will have to decide for themselves what happens. After all,
Your shrink would like Solaris, but it's not for normal folk
On the up side, good sets and costumes. Lame special effects combo with a plot so crippled that it's wheelchair needs crutches. George Clooney, bless his handsome heart, is unable to rescue this total waste of mind with his limited acting range, although you can see him painfully trying. Unless you are really into abnormal foresnic psychology then within 15 minutes of watching Solaris you will be asking yourself if you really want to sit through the rest of it. I did, and I did sit through the rest and it wasn't worth it. Buy another movie.
Buy Solaris at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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