#5
Solaris
Solaris
1972
Directed by: Andrei Tarkovsky
Written by: Andrei Tarkovsky and Fridrikh Gorenshtein
Based on the novel by: Stanislaw Lem
Cinematography by: Vadim Yusov
Music by: Eduard Artemyev
Starring: Donatas Banionis, Natalya Bondarchuk, Jüri Järvet, and Anatoly Solonitsyn
I would not advise you to watch Solaris if you expect a fast paced sci-fi thriller in the style of Roland Emmerich or Michael Bay. That's just not Tarkovsky's style. Solaris instead can be described as a slow moving psychological drama. Unlike modern sci-fi action movies which seek to distract you with special effects or keep your interest with its fast paced sequences and shortage of meaningful dialogue, this movie draws you in to the story and devastatingly existential subplot.
The first half of the movie centers on Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) who is a psychologist sent on a mission to a space station which in orbit over a recently discovered oceanic planet called Solaris. Those who on board are in the grip of emotional crises and Kris is sent there to survey the scene. As he finds out from the two remaining scientists aboard the space station, the planet is some sort of conscious being and creates psychological constructs to drive those in the station insane. These take the form of people from the people's past. Once they are created they believe they are the real thing and convince those for who they were created the same.
So for Kelvin, in the movie's second half, his ex wife Hari (Natalya Bondarchuk) who had committed suicide appears in the space station. She is completely unaware of having died in the past and, while Kris is at first reluctant to accept it, he falls in love with her again and refuses to accept that it is not a real person he is connecting with. This is the main tragedy of the movie. It's painful watching both of these characters deal with their dilemma. Kris is caught in the past and looses interest in what he was sent to the station to do in the first place. Hari's plight is even worse as she slowly learns that she is nothing more than a psychological construct, not a real human. She tries unsuccessfully many times to kill herself.
Science fiction usually focuses on the great possibilities that space exploration can lead to. The search for intelligent life is expected by many to one day yield results. However, Solaris paints a very different picture. The movie takes the opposite point of view refusing to praise the life of a space explorer and instead suggesting that human contact is first and foremost important. After all, the space station is a wreck, there is no indication that the cosmonauts are living the sweet life. Kris clings onto the bond he rebuilds with Hari and refuses to let go. All of this is outlined in this great scene. It's a little long, and maybe hard to watch without the context of the whole film, but I urge you to give it a chance:
All four of those at the meeting in this clip have a different idea of what human nature is and what humankind should strive to. Dr. Snaut (Jüri Järvet) sums up the basic idea of the movie perfectly though as he describes that humans have no innate desire to conquer the cosmos, but to extend the Earth to the border of the cosmos. In the end he is suggesting that we all crave the comfort of our home and are lost without it. Even if we leave for a certain time, we need it as a comfort to fall back on in times of trouble. “We don’t need other worlds. We need a mirror,” Snaut claims. Dr. Sartorious (Anatoly Solonitsyn), playing the role of the stereotypical scientist, claims that this both false and cowardly. For him all that matters is the endless search for truth. The relationship between Kris and Hari goes against everything he is saying though. He knows that she is nothing but a construct but cannot let go as shown in this scene which takes place immediately after the previous scene:
On a side note, that's probably my favourite scene in the whole movie. It's just so beautiful. It may be paying homage to that painting by Pieter Bruegel with a score by Bach, but it shows ultimately how film is a mature medium of art. Able to take past works and make something completely new out of all of them simultaneously.
Kris has to make a choice between his uncomfortable reality back on Earth, or descending to the islands of Solaris to live in an artificial reality with everything he has loved in the past existing once again and coming together. Faced with that prospect who knows what any one of us would do. We trick ourselves all the time. We tell ourselves that things are the way they are for a certain reason despite definitive evidence of the contrary. Religion and spiritual beliefs make it easier for people to come to terms with a troubled existence and their own immortality. The question of truth or comfort is central to this movie and the insight it provides is what makes it such an amazing movie. The final scene is one of the greatest too and can be said to define the whole movie. I highly recommend watching it, don't consider it being a spoiler. Deep down you know that Kris, like most of you who are reading this, choose comfort over truth. He descends to Solaris and lives happily:
The first half of the movie centers on Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) who is a psychologist sent on a mission to a space station which in orbit over a recently discovered oceanic planet called Solaris. Those who on board are in the grip of emotional crises and Kris is sent there to survey the scene. As he finds out from the two remaining scientists aboard the space station, the planet is some sort of conscious being and creates psychological constructs to drive those in the station insane. These take the form of people from the people's past. Once they are created they believe they are the real thing and convince those for who they were created the same.
So for Kelvin, in the movie's second half, his ex wife Hari (Natalya Bondarchuk) who had committed suicide appears in the space station. She is completely unaware of having died in the past and, while Kris is at first reluctant to accept it, he falls in love with her again and refuses to accept that it is not a real person he is connecting with. This is the main tragedy of the movie. It's painful watching both of these characters deal with their dilemma. Kris is caught in the past and looses interest in what he was sent to the station to do in the first place. Hari's plight is even worse as she slowly learns that she is nothing more than a psychological construct, not a real human. She tries unsuccessfully many times to kill herself.
Science fiction usually focuses on the great possibilities that space exploration can lead to. The search for intelligent life is expected by many to one day yield results. However, Solaris paints a very different picture. The movie takes the opposite point of view refusing to praise the life of a space explorer and instead suggesting that human contact is first and foremost important. After all, the space station is a wreck, there is no indication that the cosmonauts are living the sweet life. Kris clings onto the bond he rebuilds with Hari and refuses to let go. All of this is outlined in this great scene. It's a little long, and maybe hard to watch without the context of the whole film, but I urge you to give it a chance:
All four of those at the meeting in this clip have a different idea of what human nature is and what humankind should strive to. Dr. Snaut (Jüri Järvet) sums up the basic idea of the movie perfectly though as he describes that humans have no innate desire to conquer the cosmos, but to extend the Earth to the border of the cosmos. In the end he is suggesting that we all crave the comfort of our home and are lost without it. Even if we leave for a certain time, we need it as a comfort to fall back on in times of trouble. “We don’t need other worlds. We need a mirror,” Snaut claims. Dr. Sartorious (Anatoly Solonitsyn), playing the role of the stereotypical scientist, claims that this both false and cowardly. For him all that matters is the endless search for truth. The relationship between Kris and Hari goes against everything he is saying though. He knows that she is nothing but a construct but cannot let go as shown in this scene which takes place immediately after the previous scene:
On a side note, that's probably my favourite scene in the whole movie. It's just so beautiful. It may be paying homage to that painting by Pieter Bruegel with a score by Bach, but it shows ultimately how film is a mature medium of art. Able to take past works and make something completely new out of all of them simultaneously.
Kris has to make a choice between his uncomfortable reality back on Earth, or descending to the islands of Solaris to live in an artificial reality with everything he has loved in the past existing once again and coming together. Faced with that prospect who knows what any one of us would do. We trick ourselves all the time. We tell ourselves that things are the way they are for a certain reason despite definitive evidence of the contrary. Religion and spiritual beliefs make it easier for people to come to terms with a troubled existence and their own immortality. The question of truth or comfort is central to this movie and the insight it provides is what makes it such an amazing movie. The final scene is one of the greatest too and can be said to define the whole movie. I highly recommend watching it, don't consider it being a spoiler. Deep down you know that Kris, like most of you who are reading this, choose comfort over truth. He descends to Solaris and lives happily:
For insight fully discussing the dilemma between living an uneasy life in reality versus living comfortably in a false one, Solaris is in my opinion the 5th greatest movie of the 1970s.
I really liked this movie. It's quite long, of course, but it's the kind of science fiction I enjoy. More philosophical than action packed. Or less Avatar and more 2001: A Space Odyssey, if you prefer.
ReplyDeleteI watched it one night when I was working midnight shifts at the library. Kind of a weird movie to watch wired on coffee at three A.M.