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The story follows a fellow drawn into a space station, responding to a distress signal. For much of the movie, in all truly Russian splendor, our lead gloriously brandishes a sweater with a burly dad bod that would make Fedor Emelianenko more envious than an anorexic in an ossuary. I suppose the meat of the movie is about persons being unable to escape their involuntary conscious, but it meanders into several realms of philosophy. The crew members’ imaginations manifest a human form, which seems to drive the crew to the brink. The lead is lucky enough to have a comparatively less destructive manifestation of his late wife initially, but the torment comes later in less overt ways. Since the story is told at such a meditative pace, any moments of explicit tension or distress stick out much more. The manifestations are immortal. They are neutrino-people, or are they not people at all? The pragmatist aboard the ship shows a strict lack of sympathy for the lead’s overtly sympathetic wife, while the humanist sees this coldness as an inherent flaw with humanity.
… I think.
In the beginning, rural parts are shot with some of that unmistakable Tarkovsky haziness. The grainy older film adds an extra dose of beauty to the smoggy areas. Maybe blu-ray isn’t the way to go for Tarkovsky. The space station isn’t the picturesque development that you might expect though. It’s scattered with debris, held up by battered skin-smeared steel, and pretty rudimentary in design. The only part of the station that’s given a concentration of beauty happens to be the distinctively roomy, 20th-century-looking meeting quarters, wherein the characters have a climactic philosophical discourse. Maybe the movie is suggesting that the technologically driven parts have distanced the science from the humanity? Or, maybe a cigar is just a cigar.
As mentioned above, we get a lengthy discourse questioning cosmonautic ventures and moral inconsideration in the name of expanding knowledge. Is it humanity’s duty to endlessly pursue knowledge, even in the face of potentially catastrophic consequences? Such was a prevalent sci-fi theme during the nuclear-fixated cold war. Clearly, I’m not a philosophy major, and I’m not gonna pretend to grasp it all, but I think these philosophical diatribes are the most interesting part of the movie. As long as you’re human (if you’re reading this thread, I’m not so sure), the themes are relatable.
I assume that most who express interest in this have an idea of what they’re getting. If not, let me give you the Tarkovsky preface: you may be bored, you may get tired (2 naps for me
), but hopefully you’ll like it. The lead roams the station about as fast as I roam my room at 3 A.M. feeling for a light switch. I know it’s the style, but methinks the editing could’ve been a wee bit tighter. I think this is one of Tarkovsky’s least photogenic too. I don’t know if the technologically advanced environment is intentionally unattractive, or if Tarkovsky just has more of knack for shooting natural or timeworn beauty.
… anti-climactic review ending.
Solaris (1972)
The story follows a fellow drawn into a space station, responding to a distress signal. For much of the movie, in all truly Russian splendor, our lead gloriously brandishes a sweater with a burly dad bod that would make Fedor Emelianenko more envious than an anorexic in an ossuary. I suppose the meat of the movie is about persons being unable to escape their involuntary conscious, but it meanders into several realms of philosophy. The crew members’ imaginations manifest a human form, which seems to drive the crew to the brink. The lead is lucky enough to have a comparatively less destructive manifestation of his late wife initially, but the torment comes later in less overt ways. Since the story is told at such a meditative pace, any moments of explicit tension or distress stick out much more. The manifestations are immortal. They are neutrino-people, or are they not people at all? The pragmatist aboard the ship shows a strict lack of sympathy for the lead’s overtly sympathetic wife, while the humanist sees this coldness as an inherent flaw with humanity.
… I think.
In the beginning, rural parts are shot with some of that unmistakable Tarkovsky haziness. The grainy older film adds an extra dose of beauty to the smoggy areas. Maybe blu-ray isn’t the way to go for Tarkovsky. The space station isn’t the picturesque development that you might expect though. It’s scattered with debris, held up by battered skin-smeared steel, and pretty rudimentary in design. The only part of the station that’s given a concentration of beauty happens to be the distinctively roomy, 20th-century-looking meeting quarters, wherein the characters have a climactic philosophical discourse. Maybe the movie is suggesting that the technologically driven parts have distanced the science from the humanity? Or, maybe a cigar is just a cigar.
As mentioned above, we get a lengthy discourse questioning cosmonautic ventures and moral inconsideration in the name of expanding knowledge. Is it humanity’s duty to endlessly pursue knowledge, even in the face of potentially catastrophic consequences? Such was a prevalent sci-fi theme during the nuclear-fixated cold war. Clearly, I’m not a philosophy major, and I’m not gonna pretend to grasp it all, but I think these philosophical diatribes are the most interesting part of the movie. As long as you’re human (if you’re reading this thread, I’m not so sure), the themes are relatable.
I assume that most who express interest in this have an idea of what they’re getting. If not, let me give you the Tarkovsky preface: you may be bored, you may get tired (2 naps for me
), but hopefully you’ll like it. The lead roams the station about as fast as I roam my room at 3 A.M. feeling for a light switch. I know it’s the style, but methinks the editing could’ve been a wee bit tighter. I think this is one of Tarkovsky’s least photogenic too. I don’t know if the technologically advanced environment is intentionally unattractive, or if Tarkovsky just has more of knack for shooting natural or timeworn beauty. … anti-climactic review ending.