Solaris Movie Review

With this the USSR tried to eclipse 2001: A Space Odyssey in terms of cerebral science fiction. Some critics thought they succeeded. You may disagree now that the lumbering effort is available on tape. Adapted from a Stanislaw Lem novel, it depicts a dilapidated space lab orbiting the planet Solaris, whose ocean, a vast fluid “brain,” materializes the stir-crazy cosmonauts’ obsessions – usually morose ex-girlfriends. Talk, talk, talk, minimal special effects. In Russian with English subtitles. In a two-cassette package, with a letterbox format preserving Tarkovsky's widescreen compositions.

1972 167m/C RU Donatas Banionis, Natalya Bondarchuk; D: Andrei Tarkovsky; M: Eduard Artemyev. Cannes Film Festival ‘72: Grand Jury Prize; Nominations: Cannes Film Festival ‘72: Best Film. VHS, LV FXL, FCT, INJ