Solaris
1972, Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR
| Director: Andrei Tarkovsky Producion: Mosfilm Screenplay: Andrei Tarkovsky, Friedrich Gorenstein, based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem Photography: Vadim Yusov Editor: Ludmila Feyganova Music: Eduard Artemyev, based on Bach’s Choral Prelude in F minor | Natalya Bondarchuk (Hari) Donatas Banionis (Kris Kelvin) Yuri Jarvet (Snauth) Anatoli Solonitsin (Sartorius) Vladislav Dvorjetzki (Burton) Nikolai Grinko (Father) Sos Sarkissian (Gibaryan) |
Rating: PG Runtime: 166 minutes
Content Note: Suicide
Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky is a revered figure for many film lovers, at the top table in cinephile heaven, alongside Ozu and Kurosawa. His other films include Stalker, The Mirror, and Andrei Rublev.
Based on an adaptation of Stanisław Lem’s novel, the narrative follows psychologist Kris Kelvin, who journeys to a space station orbiting the planet Solaris, which it is studying. Kelvin is there to assess whether the study should continue, but his attention shifts to the strange occurrences happening amongst the crew, and himself.
Often spoken about in the same breath as 2001: A Space Odyssey, as being amongst the greatest science fiction films, Tarkovsky’s deliberate (critics would say slow) pacing and stunning visuals create an introspective cinematic experience that will stun on the Embassy screen.
“Tarkovsky’s speculative visions enfold the mysteries of death and rebirth, the lost paradise of childhood, the power of art to define identity, the menace of science as destructive vanity; the futuristic conceit conceals the furious sense that there’s no place like home when there’s no home left to return to.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker