My apologies to Mathi, apart from being a disappointed friend he is also an ardent fan of Tarkovsky’s films and bear the following lines. I was terribly bored and disappointed once again by another film from the director. This time it is the adapted science fiction novel by Stanislaw Lem, “Solaris”. The poetic photography of the obscurity of abstractness satiates the visual pleasure but rolling up into an experience of art and philosophy would be a long stretch in agreement with me. There are methods of each director which is in perfect synthesizing moments which the fans of them appreciate. That is the reason I love the direction of Paul Thomas Anderson and not so much of the Coen brothers and none at all of Andrei Tarkovsky.While in theater, I am sure many might at least once would have went through the ordeal of holding up a full bladder in a suffering which does not kill you but rip the comfortableness from the countless nerve in your body when an amazing film is on the go and in the fear of missing a single shot, we continue with the pain. “Solaris” retains the pain with an expectation and hope of a single shot around the corner turning into a futile patience of blunt screen. I may be cursed by the fans of Tarkovsky and this film naming me ignorant and imperceptive to the cached strata of meaning of this work but I did not see any significance other than a spectacularly photographed shot of void and monotone in series of frames.
Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) is a psychologist spending his penultimate day of leaving to the mysterious planet/space/object Solaris at his father’s house. In a short film depicting the hearing of another astronaut Burton (Vladislav Dvorzhetsky) long time ago is shown and we are educated on the hallucinogenic capability of this alien land. Burton warns and wants the possibility of exploration than termination for which Kelvin is been sent for evaluation. Kelvin reaches the place with no one to welcome and is appalled to see the station in shambles and pieces.
He learns that his colleague Dr. Gibarian (Sos Sargsyan) has died mysteriously and the other two resident scientists Dr. Snaut (Jüri Järvet) and Dr. Sartorius (Anatoli Solonitsyn) behave rudely but advices to see the weird phenomenon as a common occurrence. Perplexed he watches the tape left by Gibarian and then in the middle of his sleep sees a calm and serene faced woman, his wife Hari (Natalya Bondarchuk). Apart from the freaky fright of her in the space station, the fear is that she died ten years ago committing suicide. Kris lures her into a rocket to kill her only to find her again recreated. He understands the phenomenon the scientists were mentioning. The person resembling his wife is a manifestation of his thoughts only that it is real in flesh and blood. It is understood that she is a product of the “ocean” or the alien through the minds of Kelvin.
Kelvin knowing that falls for her but here is what the temptation of a beautiful film popped up in me. Hari or the alien or “guest” resembling her begins to fall for Kelvin and fastidiously learns to be human. But then again by the time you reach this, the film has spent a considerable hour and half which felt like three hours. And it kept on rambling in the indulgence and tickles hope and slaps with bare solid hand on my face.
Abstraction is a beauty. The idea of the concealed and partially exposed material is a thought to be dug upon by connoisseurs of the film. And as Michael Haneke’s “Cache” this is a form of presentation which I am afraid will I ever be able to appreciate or sit through. Quite sad that after many films of Tarkovsky I am unmoved even to a tiniest bit of emotional attachment or appreciation. I began to doubt the skills of the presentation and the fan and critics base his films have engulfed. Is it something of this sort is labeled a classic and masterpiece because of peer pressure? I immediately took back for this judgment on other people who genuinely love this film. While all the films have its audience, this one has been the definition of being a true film lover for many people. My love for movies is no less but the streak of Tarkovsky’s film failing to reach out to me continues.
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