NOTE: Spoilers for Solyaris too.
For me this version stripped away a lot of what made Tarkovsky's Solyaris so interesting. Solaris turned into a more simple movie about a guy dealing with a regret. Perhaps it went a little larger, and was about dealing with painful memories. (I couldn't escape the sense that it was 9/11 influenced - from the scene early on with people talking in a room about their reactions to painful memories that was sounding a lot like 9/11). But overall it missed exploring the bigger questions that Solyaris raises. There's still more substance here than your average Hollywood film but I much preferred the way Tarkovsky went deeper into every idea.
Some interesting ideas from Solyaris that were only lightly explored in Solaris - Exploring the concept of creation - Solyaris created the living memories from the minds of the scientists so in a way Kelvin was the god of his dead wife. The way in which Hari was more aware than Rheya and fought more for her humanity made this connection more interesting. She did not just want to kill herself she and truly struggled with who she was and why she existed. (as humans could do as well if they are posed the right questions). She also eventually had to come to terms with the discovery that while they had were once been in love, their relationship had ended before her death (humanity abandoned by 'god'?). This changed in Soderbergh's Solaris and made it more focused on Kelvin's character and I felt weakened it overall because of it.
Solaris also missed the scientist's plan to beam their waking thoughts down to the surface so it could understand them better. There was no strong suggestion of threat as found in Solaris (another post 9/11 influence?). There was just curiosity from the planet and the possibility that human-like intelligence was not as unique as we often like to think.
I like the idea of having your memory brought to life, having to face it and interact with it, while also having it exposed in front of people you don't know, but Soderbergh's version made it all about Kelvin and missed some of the greater questions about humanity that Tarkovsky was able to explore.
Ignore the long car sequence (apparently kept in the film so he could justify his crew's trip to Japan), I recommend watching Solyaris if you can. It may be slower paced, but it eventually goes much deeper.
For me this version stripped away a lot of what made Tarkovsky's Solyaris so interesting. Solaris turned into a more simple movie about a guy dealing with a regret. Perhaps it went a little larger, and was about dealing with painful memories. (I couldn't escape the sense that it was 9/11 influenced - from the scene early on with people talking in a room about their reactions to painful memories that was sounding a lot like 9/11). But overall it missed exploring the bigger questions that Solyaris raises. There's still more substance here than your average Hollywood film but I much preferred the way Tarkovsky went deeper into every idea.
Some interesting ideas from Solyaris that were only lightly explored in Solaris - Exploring the concept of creation - Solyaris created the living memories from the minds of the scientists so in a way Kelvin was the god of his dead wife. The way in which Hari was more aware than Rheya and fought more for her humanity made this connection more interesting. She did not just want to kill herself she and truly struggled with who she was and why she existed. (as humans could do as well if they are posed the right questions). She also eventually had to come to terms with the discovery that while they had were once been in love, their relationship had ended before her death (humanity abandoned by 'god'?). This changed in Soderbergh's Solaris and made it more focused on Kelvin's character and I felt weakened it overall because of it.
Solaris also missed the scientist's plan to beam their waking thoughts down to the surface so it could understand them better. There was no strong suggestion of threat as found in Solaris (another post 9/11 influence?). There was just curiosity from the planet and the possibility that human-like intelligence was not as unique as we often like to think.
I like the idea of having your memory brought to life, having to face it and interact with it, while also having it exposed in front of people you don't know, but Soderbergh's version made it all about Kelvin and missed some of the greater questions about humanity that Tarkovsky was able to explore.
Ignore the long car sequence (apparently kept in the film so he could justify his crew's trip to Japan), I recommend watching Solyaris if you can. It may be slower paced, but it eventually goes much deeper.