Solaris (1971)

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. Gorenshteyn)

Stars:

Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Natalya Bondarchuk	...	Khari
Donatas Banionis	...	Kris Kelvin, psychologist
Jüri Järvet	...	Doctor Snaut, cyberneticist (as Yuri Yarvet)
Vladislav Dvorzhetskiy	...	Henri Berton, pilot
Nikolay Grinko	...	Nik Kelvin, Kris' father
Anatoliy Solonitsyn	...	Doctor Sartorius, astrobiologist
Olga Barnet	...	Kris Kelvin's mother (as O. Barnet)
Vitalik Kerdimun	...	Syn Anri Bertona (as V. Kerdimun)
Olga Kizilova	...	Doctor Gribaryan's 'guest' (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	...	Doctor Gribaryan, physiologist (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.

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Plot Keywords:

scientist | space station | ocean | hallucination | apparition | 

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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.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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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:

RUR 1,000,000 (estimated)

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

In addition to Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "Hunters in the Snow", the painting that is meditated on in the library, three more of his paintings can be seen displayed there during the weightless scene: "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus," "The Harvesters," and "The Gloomy Day, beginning of Spring."

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Goofs

At 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).

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Quotes

Nik Kelvin, otets Krisa Kelvina: This house reminds me of my grandfather's house. I really liked it so we decided to bujild one just like it. I don't like innovation.

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Alternate Versions

Film was cut by its US distributor to 132 mins and released at that length in 1976. In 1990, the director's cut was released in America by Kino International.

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Connections

Referenced in Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

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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.