Solaris (2002)

Solaris - Criterion Collection
Original Russian film - restored. Film is amazing! Much better than the recent remake with Clooney. Very true to the novel, engrossing and visually stimulating. The restoration is very well done and a pleasure to watch. Recommend this to serious Lem fans as well as movie buffs.

Solaris is Visionary.
I rediscovered the genius of this cult film several nights ago on the IFC channel. Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky is best known for [[ASIN:B00006L92F Solaris]] and [[ASIN:B000I8OOG0 Stalker]]. Not surprisingly, Solaris (1972) is often compared to Stanley Kubrick's [[ASIN:B000UJ48SG 2001 - A Space Odyssey]]. Because the two have much in common as film experiences, they share the same cult following. Both films involve a transforming encounter in space with a greater intelligence. In 2001 the journey is outward; in Solaris the journey is inward. Based on the Stanislaw Lem novel of the same name, Solaris tells the story of a space station (in orbit around a remote, planet-like object called Solaris) that has fallen into a crisis and the crew members are all hallucinating. Psychologist/ cosmonaut Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) travels to the station to assess the situation, but soon begins experiencing the same hallucinations. When his late wife, Khari (18-year old Natalya Bondarchuk), unexpectedly appears on the station, Kelvin wonders if she is instead a space apparition or a memory. This is a sublime, visionary experience in film. (Skip the 2002 Soderbergh/George Clooney remake, which lacks Tarkovsky's vision, which is the real genius of Solaris.)

The two-disc Criterion edition includes a new digital transfer, an audio essay by Tarkovsky scholars Vida Johnson and Graham Petrie, co-authors of The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual Fugue, new and improved English subtitle translation, nine deleted and alternate scenes, video interviews with lead actress Natalya Bondarchuk, cinematographer Vadim Yusov, art director Mikhail Romadin, and composer Eduard Artemyev, and a documentary excerpt with Solaris author Stanislaw Lem.

G. Merritt

Oh the Humanity...
Solaris is quite a movie. It is a sci-fi masterpiece. Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky has created one of the best sci-fi movies ever. It probes deep into your mind and makes a home there. Some consider this the companion or "anser" to [[ASIN:B000UJ48SG 2001 - A Space Odyssey (Two-Disc Special Edition)]]. I can understand the connection, but I see a distinction.

Where as 2001 was about humanity on metaphorical level, Solaris is on the physical level. The characters of the two movies do not share anything in common. Each story is off to itself. But it is fun to disect and debate the common and uncommon themes of each movie.

What I'm saying is, watch this movie. It's deliberately paced, training you to watch it not as movie, but as an almost documentary. It's one of the few movies that aim isn't to entertain, that I like. It's not an entertainment piece. It was created to fill in the blanks other sci-fi and drama movies earlier tried.

I feel all movies should be aimed to entertain as well as stimulate the minds. Very few sole stimulating movies I like, but this is definitely one of them.

The DVD features a commentary by the Tarkovsky biographers, as well as deleted scenes/alternate takes, and interviews with prominent members of the film.

Must See.