Solaris (2002 film)

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Solaris (2002)
Directed by	Steven Soderbergh
Produced by	James Cameron Jon Landau Rae Sanchini Co-Producer: Charles V. Bender Michael Polaire Executive Producer: Gregory Jacobs
Written by	Novel: Stanisław Lem Screenplay: Steven Soderbergh
Starring	George Clooney Natascha McElhone Viola Davis Jeremy Davies Ulrich Tukur
Music by	Cliff Martinez
Cinematography	Steven Soderbergh
Editing by	Steven Soderbergh
Studio	Lightstorm Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	November 29, 2002 (2002-11-29) (USA)
Running time	99 min
Language	English
Budget	$47,000,000 (estimated)

Solaris is a 2002 science fiction film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney.

It is based on the science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem (which also inspired the critically acclaimed 1972 Soviet film of the same name, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, and a 1968 TV film).

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Critical reception 4 Footnotes 5 External links

[edit] Plot

Chris Kelvin is played by George Clooney, and Rheya by Natascha McElhone. Borrowing heavily from the Tarkovsky film, this version of Solaris is a meditative psychodrama set almost entirely on a space station, adding flashbacks to the previous experiences of its main characters on Earth.

A psychiatrist still dealing with the loss of his wife, Chris Kelvin receives a disturbing video message from a friend and scientist, Gibarian, asking for Chris' help and that he must come to the enigmatic planet, Solaris. He agrees to go on the mission to Solaris as a last attempt to recover the crew. Kelvin, arriving at the space station, quickly learns that members of the crew have died (or even disappeared) under mysterious circumstances with the only two surviving members reluctant to explain the cause. After shockingly encountering his dead wife alive again, Chris discovers that Solaris has been creating physical replications of people familiar to each crew member. Up until the end, Chris struggles with the questions of Solaris' motivation, his beliefs and memories, and reconciling what was lost with an opportunity for a second chance.

[edit] Cast

• George Clooney as Chris Kelvin
• Natascha McElhone as Rheya
• Viola Davis as Gordon
• Jeremy Davies as Snow
• Ulrich Tukur as Gibarian

[edit] Critical reception

Director Steven Soderbergh admits (on the DVD commentary track) that marketing was a challenge. The movie's trailer depicted a science fiction love story (or thriller) may have raised expectations among potential film-goers that were not met, grossing $15 million (against an estimated $47 million budget).^[1]

The Time Out Film Guide describes this version as superior to the Tarkovsky version. However, the overall critical reception and popular votes do not share this opinion. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 65 percent fresh approval rating, which is far from that of the Tarkovsky's adaptation, which earned a 97 percent rating. The Internet Movie Database user ratings for the two versions are 6.2 and 8.0, respectively, while Yahoo! Movies user ratings are C and A, respectively.

Lem himself called Soderbergh's film a "remake of the Tarkovsky movie", sharing the opinion of many movie-goers, and criticized it as departing far from his original intentions in writing the novel by focusing almost exclusively on the psychological relationship between the two main characters, while reducing the vast and alien ocean to a mere "mirror" of humanity:

“

[As] Solaris' author I shall allow myself to repeat that I only wanted to create a vision of a human encounter with something that certainly exists, in a mighty manner perhaps, but cannot be reduced to human concepts, ideas or images. This is why the book was entitled Solaris and not Love in Outer Space.

”

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Solaris (2002) at the Internet Movie Database
• Solaris (2002) at Allmovie
• Solaris (2002) at Rotten Tomatoes
• In-depth analysis of the film at the Galilean Library
• Lem's comment on the 2002 version
• Rick Sternbach's graphic designs for Solaris
• Comparative review of Solaris book and two films in The Future Fire 2
• Roger Ebert's review

v • d • e Films directed by Steven Soderbergh 1980s Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) 1990s Kafka (1991) • King of the Hill (1993) • The Underneath (1995) • Gray's Anatomy (1996) • Schizopolis (1996) • Out of Sight (1998) • The Limey (1999) 2000s Erin Brockovich (2000) • Traffic (2000) • Ocean's Eleven (2001) • Full Frontal (2002) • Solaris (2002) • Ocean's Twelve (2004) • Bubble (2005) • The Good German (2006) • Ocean's Thirteen (2007) • Che (2008) • The Girlfriend Experience (2009) • The Informant! (2009)

v • d • e James Cameron 1980s Piranha II: The Spawning (1981) · The Terminator (1984) · Aliens (1986) · The Abyss (1989) 1990s Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) · True Lies (1994) · Titanic (1997) 2000s Avatar (2009) Documentaries Expedition: Bismarck (2002) · Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) · Aliens of the Deep (2005) Producer / writer Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) · Point Break (1991) · Strange Days (1995) · Dark Angel (2000–02) · Solaris (2002) · Exodus Decoded (2006) · The Lost Tomb of Jesus (2007) Associates Jon Landau · Gale Anne Hurd · Kathryn Bigelow · Stan Winston · James Horner · Brad Fiedel · Lance Henriksen · Michael Biehn · Bill Paxton · Linda Hamilton · Arnold Schwarzenegger · Sigourney Weaver · Jenette Goldstein · Suzy Amis Production company Lightstorm Entertainment

v • d • e Major works of Stanisław Lem Novels Hospital of the Transfiguration (1948) • The Magellanic Cloud (1955) • The Investigation (1959) • Eden (1959) • Return from the Stars (1961) • Solaris (1961) • Memoirs Found in a Bathtub (1961) • The Invincible (1964) • His Master's Voice (1968) • The Futurological Congress (1971) • The Chain of Chance (1975) • Observation on the Spot (1982) • Fiasco (1986) • Peace on Earth (1987) Short Story Collections The Cyberiad (1967) • A Perfect Vacuum (1971) • Tales of Pirx the Pilot and More Tales of Pirx the Pilot (1973) • Imaginary Magnitude (1973) • One Human Minute (1986) Futurology Summa Technologiae (1964) Adaptations The Silent Star (1960 film) • Solaris (1968 film) • Solaris (1972 film) • Test pilota Pirxa (1978 film) • Solaris (2002 film) Ijon Tichy: Raumpilot (2007 TV series)