Review of Solaris (2002) by Dawdlingpoet — 26 Nov 2021

This is quite a curious film. I say that as it has a definite mysterious feel to it from the outset, with the viewer not getting much in the way of insight into whats going on but the more we see, the more intriguing and complicated things may appear. George Clooney does well in his role as a psychologist and I thought it was quite atmospheric, with a real looming sense/feel to it and believable people acting erratically while on board the isolated research station in space. Its a bit of a slow burner of a film but its certainly not a bad one. I liked that the background music/sound effects weren't too loud and 'in your face' and I thought the dialogue was quite good at times, although it can't be said that there's constant dialogue as some times scenes pass without long and convoluted discussions. One thing I found a little frustrating was that in some scenes, the dialogue was quite quiet, with characters talking in hushed tones - this may be an issue for people who are hard of hearing. This film has a somewhat philosophical side to it, which I quite liked. The focus on a lack of memory intrigued me. Also, some scenes feature relatively shaky/jerky camerawork, which might frustrate some viewers.

This is definitely more of an arty/'deep' philosophical film than anything else and so it may seem a bit pretentious to some but in any case, overall; yes, I would recommend this film as I personally found myself pretty engrossed in it.