The movie revolves around the psychologist Kim Kelvin who has been introduced to a new mission to go to a space station orbiting the surface of a distant planet. That mission appears dangerous as the man tries to investigate a mysterious death, and may discover the nearby Solaris planet that has serious implications for the crew. Now, things turn to different paths when their memories and concerns become living creatures.
Viewers with patience will find 'Solaris' mesmerizing, visual and emotional food for thought even if such thought is open to a rainbow of interpretations, or to none.
Tarkovsky's speculative visions enfold the mysteries of death and rebirth, the lost paradise of childhood, the power of art to define identity, the menace of science as destructive vanity ...
Where 2001: A Space Odyssey's final act explored the limitless possibilities of human potential, the heart of Solaris' thesis is the crushing limitation of human psychological experience.
More an exploration of inner than of outer space, Tarkovsky's eerie mystic parable is given substance by the filmmaker's boldly original grasp of film language and the remarkable performances by all the principals.
[VIDEO ESSAY] Andrei Tarkovsky's prodigious ability to conceptualize grand-scale narrative structure with a fluid sense of cinematic time continues to influence filmmakers even if few rise to such dizzying heights.
