Film 29 (9/22/2005)

Solaris (1972)

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Recommended by: maxuda

Has Fentablar seen this before?: No.

Where to begin with Solaris? Well, first I must say that Solaris is the first Russian, let alone Tarkovsky, film I have seen. That being said, plus considering that I have seen a few foreign films throughout the course of this project, I feel it is important to note that in general filmmakers from any nation have the same capacity for creating great, as well as bad, cinema.

Now, there is some argument out there about people considering cinema from certain nations to be "better" than American cinema, or that a film may be considered "good" by someone simply because it is foreign, or it may attract more attention because it is foreign, etc., etc. I think there is a bit of a misconception within these arguments, but I'm not sure how realized it truly is - it seems to me that, in the US, most foreign films that get talked about are only within our scope of knowledge because they received acclaim elsewhere and as such have been spread around, primarily via discussion. In such an instance, it makes sense that the ratio of "good-to-bad" foreign films viewed by the generic American viewer would be rather out of synch with the same ratio for American films. I mean, really, are the French, Russians, Chinese, Koreans, et al, having any sort of discussion about The Dukes of Hazzard? I seriously doubt it.

Perhaps that is a discussion for another time. For now, on with Solaris.

What an intriguing and original story - after viewing Solaris, I am most interested to read the Stanislaw Lem novel upon which the film was based. The intrigue and emotional depth regarding the relationship between Kris (Donatas Banionis) and the Solaris Ocean are believable and not too difficult to connect to, but this is not what seems to me as the crux of the film.

No, the crux of this film is sparked first by the scientific debate that is in fact the plot's premise to begin with - at what point should a scientific project be abandoned because of potential risks? What level of risk justifies cancelling a program which could lead to "first contact"? Kris Kelvin's mission is to visit Solaris and determine this very thing. Burton (Vladislav Dvorzhetsky), who has experienced the "phenomena" at Solaris, warns Kris that dissolving the project would be detrimental to science. I wonder still what the truth is behind Burton's reasoning.

During the second half of the film, Snaut (Juri Jarvet) makes a keen observation, which I believe goes a long way in stating what I feel to be the true message of Solaris. Man spends so much time, effort, capital, etc., desparately trying to discover "first contact" - but what is it Man is really looking for? Snaut seems to think Man is really looking for a mirror - "first contact" with another creature similar to Man. Considering the nature of Solaris' "guests", this argument seems fairly accurate. Kris seems to begin to understand this by the film's end, but this is not absolutely certain as he still seems floored by the whole experience.

But what of Burton's position? Does he still hold some sort of infatuation for the phenomena he experienced? It's obvious the experience still haunts him - he is thinking of it throughout the entire scene with him driving through the city. Or is his opinion strictly about scientific principle? I am still debating with myself over this, and will probably continue to do so, perhaps even after viewing Solaris several times over.

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Plot Effectiveness: 5/5. An intriguing story which not only sparks philosophical debate, but helped to set a precedent for the Sci-Fi genre.

Cinematography/Shot Selection: 5/5. Beautifully crafted. The golden egg in this category is Tarkovsky's creative switching between color and black-and-white to show that the focus character (this occurs with Burton and with Kris Kelvin), while we see him in the "present", is thinking about the past.

Overall Acting: 4/5. Not perfect, but very well done. I was most fond of the performances by Jarvet and Dvorzhetsky.

Score/Soundtrack: 4/5. Again, not perfect but certainly better than average.

OVERALL RATING: 4.5/5

~Fentablar~