Solaris (1972)

A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.

Director:

Andrei Tarkovsky (as Andrey Tarkovskiy)

Writers:

Stanislaw Lem (novel) (as Stanislav Lem), Fridrikh Gorenshteyn (screenplay) (as F. Gorenshtein)

Stars:

Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donatas Banionis	...	Kris Kelvin, psikholog
Natalya Bondarchuk	...	Khari
Jüri Järvet	...	Doktor Snaut, kibernetik (as Yuri Yarvet)
Vladislav Dvorzhetskiy	...	Anri Berton, pilot (as Vladislav Dvorzhetsky)
Nikolay Grinko	...	Nik Kelvin, otets Krisa Kelvina (as Nikolai Grionko)
Anatoliy Solonitsyn	...	Doktor Sartorius, astrobiolog (as Anatoly Solonitsyn)
Olga Barnet	...	Mat Krisa Kelvina (as O. Barnet)
Vitalik Kerdimun	...	Syn Anri Bertona (as V. Kerdimun)
Olga Kizilova	...	Gostya doktora Gribaryana (as O. Kizilova)
Tatyana Malykh	...	Plemyannitsa Krisa Kelvina (as T. Malykh)
Aleksandr Misharin	...	Shanakhan, predsedatel komissii Anri Bertona (as A. Misharin)
Bagrat Oganesyan	...	Professor Tarkhe (as B. Oganesyan)
Tamara Ogorodnikova	...	Anna, tetka Krisa Kelvina (as T. Ogorodnikova)
Sos Sargsyan	...	Doktor Gribaryan, fiziolog (as S. Sarkisyan)
Yulian Semyonov	...	Predsedatel nauchnoy konferentsii (as Yu. Semyonov)

Storyline

The Solaris mission has established a base on a planet that appears to host some kind of intelligence, but the details are hazy and very secret. After the mysterious demise of one of the three scientists on the base, the main character is sent out to replace him. He finds the station run-down and the two remaining scientists cold and secretive. When he also encounters his wife who has been dead for ten years, he begins to appreciate the baffling nature of the alien intelligence.

---

Plot Keywords:

scientist | space station | ocean | hallucination | apparition | 

---

Taglines:

Let us take you with us to Solaris, planet of mystery, embodiment of man's latent conflict with the unknown. Man, face to face with his conscience, and with his past.

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian German

Release Date:

26 September 1972 (Czechoslovakia)

Also Known As:

Solaris

Filming Locations:

Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine

Box Office

Budget:

RUR1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,537, 15 September 2002

Gross USA:

$22,168

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$56,594

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm, Chetvyortoe Tvorcheskoe Obedinenie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

167 min 115 min (unapproved cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (Eastman Double-X Negative Film) Color (Eastman Color)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie is based on the novel by Polish author Stanislaw Lem.

---

Goofs

In the weightless scene, in addition to the candle flames behaving as if they were in Earth's gravity, Hari's dress and hair fall downwards, rather than floating upward.

---

Quotes

Dr. Snaut: Don't tell me you haven't tried a rope or a hammer. Did you happen to throw the inkwell like Luther? No?

---

Alternate Versions

The DVD from Criterion has many small differences in the subtitles from the VHS version released by Fox Lorber. Most are inconsequential (in the VHS version, Kris's father compares him to "an accountant" while in the DVD he refers to "a bookkeeper") but the VHS version's subtitles are incomplete, simplifying some passages and eliminating simple phrases. Early on, Kris's father refers to "that damned Solaristics" (sic) in the VHS version; the subtitles in the DVD say "These Solarists." (In this scene, the VHS version may be more accurate: the DVD commentary by the film historians refers to the line as "damned Solaristics.") Also, the VHS version has Sartorius saying "All the rest is bullshit," while the DVD has him saying, "Everything else is whim." Also, in the in the VHS version, several of the black-and-white segments (including the film of Burton's debriefing) are sepia-toned, and one color shot goes to black-and-white after Kris passes in front of the camera (the scene is completely black-and-white in the DVD). The scene where Kris sees Hari for the second time is in black-and-white on VHS, but it has an orange, sunset-like tone in the DVD (possibly tinted black-and-white). These differences are clearly not a result of remastering or color-correction. Finally, the VHS version, which is two cassettes, shows the title card for "Solaris: Part One" but doesn't subtitle it, and it does not show the title card for "Solaris: Part Two." The title would appear at the beginning of the second tape.

---

Connections

Featured in Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (2017)

---

Soundtracks

The Little Organ Book: Ich Ruf Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ - BWV 639
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (as I. S. Bakh)

User Reviews

had to watch it twice

I'm just starting out into the vast world of foreign film and having seen this film on many a video store shelf, and knowing that it was considered a sci-fi classic, I thought it would be a good way to spend an evening. Based on the case I was expecting something along the line of typical American sci-fi. Needless to say I was wrong.

I watched Solyaris twice in two days, because the first time I saw it I knew that I hadn't processed even a quarter of what I knew was there. I was taken completely aback. The second viewing was extremely rewarding.

It was unusual for me, raised as I was on the sledgehammer moralizing and we'll make our point so obvious that there's no way you can miss it because we have no respect for your intelligence way of American film. I'm a huge literature buff, and this was one of the very few films I've confronted that is thoughtful and has so many things to say yet does it in a literary or poetic fashion.

You will get out of this film what you bring to it. I've been to so many movies where the audience is not actually participating, it's being attacked. But true art is not domineering; it woos you.

So to sum up, I greatly appreciated Tarkovsky's unwillingness to manipulate the viewer. It showed that he had respect for me as a thinking soul, and it is this love and respect for humanity which makes this a truly great film.