Solaris Review
Posted by Jacob Ziegler on 11.29.2002
Can Soderbergh redeem himself after this summer’s deplorable Full Frontal? He sure makes quite an effort with his latest film, produced by James Cameron.
Solaris Review
Release Date: November 27th, 2002
Early on in the latest film from the very talented Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Out of Sight) we see several shots that must be an homage to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. This should help prepare serious filmgoers as to what kind of movie Solaris is going to be, but even knowing that is not really adequate preparation. It is truly more of an avant-garde film rather than classical cinema, and it delves into issues and emotions not commonly seen in today’s Hollywood fluff. Coming out of the movie, I was not even sure I liked it. I soon figured out that I did not hate it, but then I had trouble figuring out how much I liked it. It is a complicated film to say the least.
Clooney delivers a fine performance (who would have thought he would become a legitimate actor?) as Chris Kelvin, a man who lost the woman he loves years ago. He is sent on a mission to a spaceship orbiting the planet Solaris, where some very strange things are happening. Crew members are dying, and the only two left are very bizarre (and well-acted). One of them is Helen Gordon (Viola Davis), who tells Kelvin that there is no use talking about what’s going on until it starts happening to him. The other, the painfully neurotic Snow (Jeremy Davies, of Saving Private Ryan) explains that “I could explain to you what’s going on, but I’m not sure that would explain to you what’s going on.” It is a very confusing situation indeed. All of this is revealed very slowly by Soderbergh, almost to the point of banality. It is interesting, yes, but at times was moving so slowly that I was screaming in my head for the movie to hurry up and get on with it.
“It” starts happening to Kelvin after his first night there. He encounters the woman he lost years ago, Rheya (Natascha McElhone) but it cannot really be her, can it? She looks like her, sounds like her, acts like her, and shares memories with Kelvin. Gordon assures Kelvin that she is not human, but he has a hard time believing her. It is because he feels partially responsible for losing her the first time, and wants to make amends this time around? Is this incarnation of his wife playing psychological games with him? Or is it the planet Solaris destroying his internal psyche?
We learn, from “Rheya” herself, that she is indeed not real, she is simply made up of his memories of her. She is suicidal because he remembers her as suicidal. She sounds the way she does because that is how he remembers her. This opens up a large can of worms as a statement on how we view the people we know. Do we really know them, or are they just a compilation of what we know about them? Do we really know anybody?
Clooney does a wonderful job with a difficult character. After escaping from the land of weekly television, his first few projects (From Dusk Till Dawn, One Fine Day) did not really show much promise. But here he plays a man confused by feelings of loss and regret manifested into a human form. Gordon begs with him to allow her to destroy “Rheya,” which is what she wants. But Kelvin is adamant about not losing the woman he loves twice, even if this is not the same woman. She is not even a human, yet to destroy her would be somehow inhuman. It is a painful “Catch-22,” developed beautifully by Soderbergh.
The film is being marketed as a science-fiction film, but it is hardly that. The planet Solaris and the spaceship are certainly sci-fi elements, but they exist to set the real plot in motion. It is hardly even a drama, or a romance, as some might view it. It is a quiet, introspective character study teeming with social relevance. It has some surprises, but none that will make anyone jump out of their seat. It moves along at a very deliberate pace, and I suspect that very few directors would have either the skill or the want to take on such a heavy piece.
There are many questions the film brings up, and it is a wise choice by Soderbergh to not answer all of them. Love or hate the film, it is sure to be a conversation-stimulator, and it resembles Kubrick’s 2001 in many ways. The film is well acted, well directed, and technically sound. The original score by Cliff Martinez is the perfect compliment to what happens on screen. I suspect that audiences will not take kindly to this movie, because it is so radically different (i.e. Punch-Drunk Love). But Solaris is the very rarest of movies, one that may not be the best movie of the year, but it is a movie one will think about and debate over long after the credits roll.
The 411: This movie is unlike any American film released in years, so make sure you know what you’re getting into before going to see it. By that same token, I encourage everyone to go see it, as it is a stunningly well-crafted, beautiful looking film. It challenges your mind, urging you to think outside of the box. Clooney continues his evolution as an actor with a subdued, excellent performance.
