Solyaris

English title: Solaris

Genre: science fiction

With: Donatas Banionis (Kris Kelvin), Nikolay Grinko (Nik, his father), Olga Barnet (Anna, his mother), Vladislav Dvorzhetskiy (Anri Berton or Burton), Anatoliy Solonitsyn (Sartorius), Jüri Järvet (Snaut), Sos Sargsyan (Grybarian or Gibarian), Natalya Bondarchuk (Khari or Hari), Georgiy Teykh (Prof. Messendzher or Messenger)

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Screenplay: Fridrikh Gorenshteyn and Andrei Tarkovsky (based on a novel by Stanislaw Lem)

Release: 1972

Studio: Mosfilm, Chetvyortoe Tvorcheskoe Obedinenie

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.8/10





How It All Comes Back to Haunt You





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Story-line: as he prepares for a trip into space to investigate the failed Solaris mission, Kris Kelvin is forewarned of danger by a disgraced former mission member but insists that his investigation will be based on facts, not on ‟hallucinations”.

Pluses: solid performances by Donatas Banionis (as the conscientious Kelvin), Anatoliy Solonitsyn (the cold Sartorius), Jüri Järvet (the ultimately amiable Snaut) and Natalya Bondarchuk (the vulnerable Hari), outstanding direction that makes sense of a very confusing situation, a mysterious and detailed screenplay that produces subdued but efficient tension and a few darkly funny moments, several pointed comments about science and life, Vadim Yusov’s gorgeous cinematography, an eerie score by Eduard Artemev and a stunning, cryptic ending.

Minuses: none whatsoever.

Comments: there are inevitable comparisons to be drawn between this Cannes Grand Prix winner and Stanley Kubrick’s earlier 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY – similar mood, set design, use of classical music (Bach instead of waltzes) and villain (the ocean instead of Hal) – but their raison d’être is not the same. While Kubrick presents a grandiose spectacle of spaceships, special effects and enigmas about humanity, SOLARIS focuses on deeply personal matters, intellectual thought and the surreal. As such, it raises moral and metaphysical questions in an unexpected way. Part sci-fi drama, part Greek tragedy, Andrei Tarkovsky’s astonishing work is a symbolic and brilliant mind-bender on space discovery – yes – but even more on self-discovery.





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