Solaris (1972) Review

 

Solaris (1972)

Solaris follows psychologist Kris Kelvin, who is sent to the Solaris space station to uncover the truth behind the mental issues of those on board, only to discover that the world has a mind of it’s own, manifesting memories of old and memories that have yet to happen.

This is often regarded as the Russian 2001, and while part of me wants to agree with that, I feel like this is much more a cinematic poem on the inability for humans to understand love. It’s a movie that takes it’s time, seeming begrudgingly slow, but it’s more on the lines of building tensions and fleshing out a complex story that doesn’t use action or thrills to suck you in. It instead uses riveting and intense, beautiful imagery that acts as an expressionist piece come to life.

I also commend it for building an unbearable amount of tension in it’s silence and lack of explanations towards things that the mind can’t comprehend. It’s terrifyingly uneasy, constantly hinting at horrors just below the surface but never acknowledging them.

The reality, or lack thereof, of Kris and Hari’s relationship is that she is but a memory, one he loves, but not fully. But it’s within him wanting to hold onto a memory he cares not for, aside from in sadness, that will keep him tethered to his memories instead of seeking out reality, a metaphor that is realized in his staying on Solaris.

The cast is small, but moving, including Jüri Järvet, Natalya Bondarchuk, and Donatas Banionis. Donatas & Bondarchuk have a touching chemistry, and knowing that no matter what, she will become more human, driving her towards her fate of suicide is all the more saddening.

Solaris, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, contains a literary and poetic power that only Russians are capable of, creating the most plausible case for extraterrestrial life in a planet that thinks and projects how it feels onto those drawn in. It breeds two very evident truths in that humans will never adequately understand the universe around them, nor the love of a human heart.

9.8/10