A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 5 wins & 4 nominations
Videos1
- Kris' Motheras Kris' Mother
- (as O. Barnet)
- Anri Burton's Sonas Anri Burton's Son
- (as V. Kerdimun)
- Doctor Gibarian's Guestas Doctor Gibarian's Guest
- (as O. Kizilova)
- Kris' Nieceas Kris' Niece
- (as T. Malykh)
- Professor Tarkheas Professor Tarkhe
- (as B. Oganesyan)
- Anna - Kris' Auntas Anna - Kris' Aunt
- (as T. Ogorodnikova)
- Academic Council Memberas Academic Council Member
- (as V. Statsinskiy)
- Director
- Writers
- Stanislaw Lem(novel "Solaris")
- Fridrikh Gorenshteyn(screenplay)
- Andrei Tarkovsky(screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
- 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
- Certificate
- A
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the most widely seen of Andrei Tarkovsky's films outside of the Soviet Union. However, Tarkovsky himself reportedly considered it the least favorite of the films he directed.
- GoofsAt the moment when the station attains zero gravity, the candlestick passes floating in the air, with the flames burning the same as in earth. Actually, with zero gravity, the fire doesn't go upward, candle flames would rather be spherical and very weak (blue).
- Quotes
Dr. Snaut: Science? Nonsense! In this situation mediocrity and genius are equally useless! I must tell you that we really have no desire to conquer any cosmos. We want to extend the Earth up to its borders. We don't know what to do with other worlds. We don't need other worlds. We need a mirror. We struggle to make contact, but we'll never achieve it. We are in a ridiculous predicament of man pursuing a goal that he fears and that he really does not need. Man needs man!
- Alternate versionsThe Region-4 DVD was released by Shock as part of its Distinction Series and runs at 2 hours and 49 minutes, with some noticeable cut scenes throughout the films. This 2-disc set doesn't contain any deleted/alternate scenes.
- ConnectionsEdited into Spisok korabley (2008)
- SoundtracksThe Little Organ Book: Ich Ruf Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ - BWV 639
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (as I. S. Bakh)
There was a very clever ad campaign to this film stating it was the Russian 2001. So us ten year olds went to see it thinking we were going to see a special effects extravaganza, and instead we saw, what seemed as a child, interminable shots of lilly's and weeds. It went over our heads but I never forgot the score and its haunting melancholia. Apparently Tarkovsky had a bad time making this film and fell out with his cinematographer. Stanislav Lem also disliked the way Tarkovsky changed the book's theme of optimism in exploring space to one of scepticism in the film. Tarkovsky felt that finally what mattered was the theme of love, that is, doing moral good in the universe, love of family or country, or the place of one's birth. The beginning of one's journey which one always returns to in one's mind which was evocatively shown in the film's climax by the lake, surely one of the great movie moments ever and terribly moving. His ultimate concern was the question of a man's soul which he is unable to deal with while striving for technological betterment. Ultimately he hoped man would reach a stage where he would solely be able to explore his spirituality.
I think with all this polemic Tarkovsky missed the fact that this film works as a beautiful love story. If you could turn the clock back there would be no moral life. But in giving Kelvin a second chance to find a greater truth, Tarkovsky also allows us a rare glimpse of love's majesty before it is sullied. The scenes where Kelvin begs Khari's forgiveness and levitates in her arms are the film's great triumphs. His use of Bach is also unforgettable. Unfairly accused of being po-faced, there is also a lot of wise humour in this film if you care to look for it.
This film inexplicably does not appear on many, if any, all time great lists. It does have some Sci-Fi nonsense of the day about bombarding the ocean with radiation, whatever that's supposed to do, but does not prevent this film being one of the great masterpieces of cinema. Recently Time Out or Sight and Sound did a survey of the all time top 20 directors and Tarkovsky did not appear but Woody Allen did! There ain't no justice.
- Gary-161
- Feb 1, 2000
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Solaris: Aventura espacial
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- RUR 1,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $22,168
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,537
- Sep 15, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $135,289
- Runtime2 hours 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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