Review of Solaris (2002) by Spangle — 19 Aug 2014

Just wow. On pretty much every front, Solaris is an exceptional film. George Clooney is marvelous here. My main criticism with him, as much as I do like him, is that he frequently seems to just play himself in many films.

Here, however, he does anything but. Steven Soderbergh's direction is great and the visual effects here of space and of the planet Solaris are breathtakingly gorgeous and really something to marvel at.

In that way and in terms of what it all means, reminds me a lot of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Very ambigious, confusing, slow, and beautiful, Solaris is really quite brilliant, though a tough nut to crack.

Personally, I am still racking my brain over what everything in this one meant and trying to figure out what I am supposed to take away. Ultimately, however, I think this is an orange you can peel in many different ways, which makes it all the more intriguing.

Personally, I think there are many plausible explanations, whether they be on reality (what is truly real?), love (and its everlasting nature), and death (where will we reunite, if we ever do? letting go or can you truly ever let go?).

It raises many interesting questions and it may not have all the answers and is most certainly very flawed at times and leaves many unanswerable questions (unless "I don't know" is an answer).

However, in spite of that, I adored this one. I love films with ambiguity and ones that raise many questions that make it fun to discuss and this is a classic example of that. Now, I would never recommend it to anyone, because if I did, odds are they would come back and call me an idiot since this one is an acquired taste, but I loved it all the same.