Review of Solaris (2002) by Lolasaurus — 12 Oct 2011

Not nearly as bad as most people make it out to be. I don't see how people would fault this American version for being different from the Russian, since neither captures even half of the thematic focus of the novel, which undoubtably is infinitely better than any other form of the story.

The novel manages to study the relationship between parallel topics of an introspective, psychological love story and a philosophical exploration on the limits of scientific understanding, subjectivity, practical implications of religion, etc.

(the whole boat-load). The Russian film focused on the latter, while, as might be expected, the American went for the former. So I can't really see how anyone says they appreciate the book in its entirety, praise the 1972 film but dismiss the 2002 one.

So all that aside, this film does its niche fairly well. The cinematography, soundtrack, acting, writing are all fairly above par if not spell-binding (the acting is really far more compelling here than in the Russian; those who say otherwise are just being stubborn).

The pace is slow which can definitely turn off a lot of people, but it provides a dream-like, Lynchian trance for those who sit the whole thing out.