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Solaris (1972)

Solyaris (original title)
Trailer
3:19 | Trailer
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) | 1 more credit »
Reviews
Popularity
2,538 ( 341)
5 wins & 4 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

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

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

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:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider. See more »

Goofs

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

Quotes

Kris Kelvin: Get some sleep.
Hari: I don't know how to sleep. It's not sleep, it's somehow around me. It's as if it wasn't just inside me, but much farther away.
See more »

Alternate Versions

The surviving print of the longer first cut is kept in Russian State Film Archives - Gosfilmofond near Moscow. It is longer by some 20 minutes. 9 deleted and alternative scenes are included on Criterion Collection DVD release of the film. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Koyaanisqatsi (1982) See more »

Soundtracks

The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II: Prelude and Fugue in F minor - BWV 881
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (as I. S. Bakh)
See more »

User Reviews

 
A unique experience
7 January 2006 | by vbertolaSee all my reviews

It's now been some years since I last watched it. Still, I can't get rid of the impressions of emptiness, absurdity and impossibility to understand (the world, and the human mind) that this movie left into me. It can be violent to your mind, without showing a single violent image (by the way, I often see this movie as a counterpart to Clockwork Orange, even more than to 2001). It can stun you, with ten or twenty minutes of incomprehensible silence. It can deprive you of any certainty in the laws of nature - such as, people only die once - and thus leave you vulnerable and naked.

I know that many friends to whom I've shown this move did not understand it. So I'm not saying you'll like it. But this is possibly the best (non-action) sci-fi movie ever made.

Watch it at night, alone, when everything out of your home is dark, silent, and cold.


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Frequently Asked Questions

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian | German

Release Date:

26 September 1972 (Czechoslovakia) See more »

Also Known As:

Solaris See more »

Filming Locations:

Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine See more »

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Box Office

Budget:

RUR1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,537, 15 September 2002

Gross USA:

$22,168

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$134,782
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (unapproved cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See full technical specs »

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