Solaris (2002)

I bought this movie right after I returned rented version. I watched movie four times during first two days and have watched it many times after that. I own original score soundtrack and it is one of my favourite soundtracks. I have watched movie few times with commentary. So this might be fan boy post.

When I bought this I had more time and often watched movies with commentary on. Lately I haven't done that as much. This movie had one of the best commentaries. Director Steven Soderbergh and producer James Cameron talk about choices Steven did and movie making as whole. It is like lecture about movie making from two big name directors. I recommend to check that out, if you have  dvd.

Big problem is, there is no blu ray version of this movie. Movie is one of the most beautiful movies ever made, but it doesn't have blu ray release. Every shot is carefully planned. You could take any frame of the movie and put it on the wall. Movie moves slowly and have lot of silent moments. It is almost like watching moving painting. Music increases alien otherworldly feeling. This is all about emotion and mood.

"I could tell you what's happening, but I don't know if it would really tell you what's happening." That quote describes this movie perfectly. Movie doesn't give explanations and doesn't tell you, how you should interpret what happened. It begins as mystery of what happened on space station orbiting around mysterious planet Solaris. We see what happened, but we still don't know what actually happened. But what happened doesn't matter at that point. What matter is how our characters react to what happened. Crew of space station acts crazy. When we see what happened to them, their actions doesn't seem so crazy. It is like slow trip into craziness.

Whole story could be told in few sentences. But that would leave so much away. This movie uses so much images and sounds in story telling, that the story is hard to put into words. Movie has two stories. First is mystery of what happened on space station. Second is difficult love story between our hero and his wife. For some there is too much of first. For some there is too much of second. For others this is perfect mix of scifi and drama. You need to be in right state of mind to fully appreciate this movie. It is slow, sad and beautiful. You need to be in mood for that kind of movie.

This is rather another movie adoption of Stanislaw Lem's Solaris, than remake of Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972). I haven't read the book. I like both movies. It is bit strange that Tarkovsky's version has blu ray release and this doesn't have. Tarkovsky's version deserves it, but so does this.

I will revisit this movie later. Then there will be spoilers. That could be anniversary post or celebration of blu ray release. I hope it will be the blu ray. This time I just wanted to tell you this movie exists.