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Solaris (1972)
by Whitecrow
"Ah Solaris ... the Russian 2001". This is
probably how you've been introduced to the film, and if you weren't a
particular fan of 2001: A Space Odyssey, you probably ran a mile.
In a way it's a tag that's a great disservice to the film - and here
we're talking about the 1972 Andrei Tarkovsky movie, over the 2002
affair in which George Clooney bared his arse.
YES - both 2001 and Solaris deal with an attempt (failed) at first
contact with an alien intelligence. In 2001 it was a group of
intelligent monoliths (or maybe the creators behind them), in Solaris
it's the intelligent oceans of the titular planet, that function like a
massive brain. And both are based on stories developed by respected
science fiction authors - Messers Arthur C. Clarke and Stanislaw Lem.
But there it all kind of ends. When I reviewed 2001 I talked about how
very visual it all was, with each frame like a masterpiece of art.
Solaris features almost non of this, it's instead a tale that's built up
by characterisation and dialogue (and there is lots of that).
Kris Kelvin is a psychologist assigned to
evaluate the progress of the Solaris space station. The station has been
set up for years, but made very little progress understanding the planet
it orbits, with most of the crew suffering some kind of emotional
breakdown. Before leaving he visits his parents, where it's obvious his
relationship has broken down with his father, who is emotionally
distant, and knows he'll never see his son again.
Arriving at the station, he finds his good friend amongst the skeleton
crew has committed suicide. The remaining crew of Snaut and Sartorius
are somewhat evasive about what's happening onboard, warning him not to
be to startled if her sees anything unusual. Kelvin wakes the next
morning to find his dead wife Hari sitting in his room.
Hari is described as a "visitor". She's created by the Solaris field
from Kris's memories - most of the crew have them, although they try to
hide them (and we never see them). These visitors are being used by
Solaris to try and observe the people who ware observing it.
At first unnerved, Kelvin eventually accepts the 'visitor' Hari. The
original committed suicide after an argument, and in this other Hari he
finds himself able to continue the illusion of marriage, and try to come
to terms with the loss of the original.
The book of Solaris was much more about Solaris and the alienness of the
world (Lem's own words). But director Andrei Tarkovsky has changed the
story to not so much be about aliens, but how such an encounter would
force us to re-evaluate ourselves. In many ways it's a science-fiction
ghost story - remember under the tight religious controls of the time,
the idea of a ghost and thus soul wasn't really an idea the Communist
Party encouraged in media.
There's lots of talk about philosophy - much like in another of
Tarkovsky's movies, Stalker, the two other crew kind of fall into the
stereotypes of cold scientist and affectionate philosopher, so you have
these conversations between them and Kris where one id representing the
mind, the other the heart. But most important of all is the character of
Hari - Kris's 'ghost' wife. She's brought to life brilliantly by actress
Natalya Bondarchuk - vulnerable, beautiful and sad, probably out acting
the entire cast of 2001 put together.
Whereas 2001 was a cold and clinical tale,
this is a story very much where emotion is at the centre of things. The
paradise of being reunited with his dead wife does not last. The ghost
Hari becoming as suicidal as the original, killing herself only to be
reanimated. One day Kris wakes to find she's used a machine to break
down the Solaris field, and so kill herself.
The planets oceans eventually start forming islands, and Kris decides to
visit. It feels all too familiar. In the island there is a house he
knows too well, and waiting inside for him is his father ...
Compared to the hotel room ending of 2001, this is a much less
spectacular ending, but one with a good deal of emotional closure.
But again with it's length (165 minutes vs 2001's 140) and it's Russian
language, this is a film isn't really accessible, but another
masterpiece. Now if only you could put together the best bits of 2001
and Solaris, and you'd have something spectacular, emotional and
accessible. Unfortunately even with Clooney's arse, the 2002 remake
wasn't it!
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