Post by klep on Nov 9, 2020 11:18:51 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/9: Solaris (1972)
SPACE WEEK!
CW: Suicide, self-harm
When I was around 17, our dog got sick, and I was tasked with taking her to the vet. My siblings and my mom said goodbye, and off we went. At the vet I said some encouraging words and said I would pick her up in a day or two. That was the last I saw her. She was put down, and not thinking that was even a possibility, I had never said goodbye. It's something that still bothers me. Unexpected deaths can often leave us feeling a lingering regret; a desire we had said the things we would have liked to before our loved ones' passing.
But in Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris, Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) carries an even heavier weight. He not only laments his wife's unexpected passing, he also blames himself. They had a fight and he left, not taking her threats of self-harm seriously, and later returned to find her dead. It's a pain ten years old at the start of the film, but one he hasn't gotten over; he's still single and ready to abandon Earth for a space station orbiting a far away planet.
So it's no surprise that he royally freaks out when he wakes to find his wife Hari (Natalya Bondarchuk) in his quarters, seemingly very much alive.
Of course Kris immediately realizes she's not his wife; she's some being created by the planet below. She acts like his wife and even loves him like his wife did - at least, before things started to go south. Her presence forces him to grapple with his regrets and his guilt over her death, and as she becomes more and more human he must also grapple with his feelings for this doppelganger and whether or not she's "real".
The whys and wherefores of these beings' presence on the station is something that Tarkovsky is largely uninterested in (a source of annoyance for Stanislaw Lem, who wrote the novel the film is based on). Instead Tarkovsky focuses on the psychology - how the men on the station grapple with being faced by these impossible persons. The films conflicts are expressed through philosophical debate between the scientists or Kris' and Hari's struggle to reconcile her existence.
To that end, Solaris moves at a slow pace. Tarkovsky takes the time to let moments and emotions fully sink in to the viewer. He wants to make sure you're immersed not only in Kris' environment, but also his headspace. But not a single shot or moment is wasted, and you never really feel the film's full 247 minute runtime.
In the end Kris is left alone again, as an increasingly despondent Hari gets the other scientists to destroy her while Kris is passed out from illness. Bereft, Kris returns home in tears to see his father, at least, is still there for him. But as the camera pulls out, we see it's just another artifact of the planet. It's unclear what message it's been trying to send, but we can hope it's invested in helping Kris to heal.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/16: Paterson
MOVIES TO RELAX TO WEEK!
Join us next week as we relax to the soothing tones of Adam Driver reciting poetry in Jim Jarmusch's 2016 film Paterson, a soothing character study of a bus driver in Paterson, NJ named Paterson. Paterson is available on Prime Video and Mubi.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/10: American Utopia
David Byrne's recently collaborated with Spike Lee on this concert film for his new album, and next week the podcast crew will be talking about it. Join us for our own discussion on Wednesday! American Utopia is available on HBO Max.
SPACE WEEK!
CW: Suicide, self-harm
When I was around 17, our dog got sick, and I was tasked with taking her to the vet. My siblings and my mom said goodbye, and off we went. At the vet I said some encouraging words and said I would pick her up in a day or two. That was the last I saw her. She was put down, and not thinking that was even a possibility, I had never said goodbye. It's something that still bothers me. Unexpected deaths can often leave us feeling a lingering regret; a desire we had said the things we would have liked to before our loved ones' passing.
But in Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris, Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) carries an even heavier weight. He not only laments his wife's unexpected passing, he also blames himself. They had a fight and he left, not taking her threats of self-harm seriously, and later returned to find her dead. It's a pain ten years old at the start of the film, but one he hasn't gotten over; he's still single and ready to abandon Earth for a space station orbiting a far away planet.
So it's no surprise that he royally freaks out when he wakes to find his wife Hari (Natalya Bondarchuk) in his quarters, seemingly very much alive.
Of course Kris immediately realizes she's not his wife; she's some being created by the planet below. She acts like his wife and even loves him like his wife did - at least, before things started to go south. Her presence forces him to grapple with his regrets and his guilt over her death, and as she becomes more and more human he must also grapple with his feelings for this doppelganger and whether or not she's "real".
The whys and wherefores of these beings' presence on the station is something that Tarkovsky is largely uninterested in (a source of annoyance for Stanislaw Lem, who wrote the novel the film is based on). Instead Tarkovsky focuses on the psychology - how the men on the station grapple with being faced by these impossible persons. The films conflicts are expressed through philosophical debate between the scientists or Kris' and Hari's struggle to reconcile her existence.
To that end, Solaris moves at a slow pace. Tarkovsky takes the time to let moments and emotions fully sink in to the viewer. He wants to make sure you're immersed not only in Kris' environment, but also his headspace. But not a single shot or moment is wasted, and you never really feel the film's full 247 minute runtime.
In the end Kris is left alone again, as an increasingly despondent Hari gets the other scientists to destroy her while Kris is passed out from illness. Bereft, Kris returns home in tears to see his father, at least, is still there for him. But as the camera pulls out, we see it's just another artifact of the planet. It's unclear what message it's been trying to send, but we can hope it's invested in helping Kris to heal.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/16: Paterson
MOVIES TO RELAX TO WEEK!
Join us next week as we relax to the soothing tones of Adam Driver reciting poetry in Jim Jarmusch's 2016 film Paterson, a soothing character study of a bus driver in Paterson, NJ named Paterson. Paterson is available on Prime Video and Mubi.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/10: American Utopia
David Byrne's recently collaborated with Spike Lee on this concert film for his new album, and next week the podcast crew will be talking about it. Join us for our own discussion on Wednesday! American Utopia is available on HBO Max.