“we need a mirror” Solaris (1972)

[Ano Eremita]

Solaris (1972)

Andrei Tarkovsky (Russian) Director

based on a book by

Stanislaw Lem (Polish territory,  now part of Ukraine)

 

“When i sleep, i know no fear, no hope, no trouble, o bliss. Blessings on him who invented sleep; the common coin that purchases all things; the balance that levels shepherds and kings, fool and wise man. There is only one bad thing about sound sleep, they say it closely resembles death”

~ Gibarian

 

“We have no interest in conquering any cosmos. We want to extend the earth to the borders of the cosmos. We don’t know what to do with other worlds. We don’t need other worlds. We need a mirror. We struggle for contact, but we’ll never find it. We’re in the foolish human predicament of struggling for a goal that he fears, that he has no need for. Man needs Man.”

~ Snaut

 

. . . . .

 

i am relatively new here and was interested to know if any of this resonates

“we need  a mirror” stands out in my mind

 

 

 

[silent thunder]

Solaris is a fantastic film!  It was like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky to me.

Have you also seen his film Stalker? 

 

It's my favorite sci-fi/philosophy film of all time, also based on a book, written by the Strugatsky Brothers called 'Roadside Picnic'.  It addresses a deeply penetrating philosophical question.  "if you were able to acquire what you most deeply want out of life... could you survive it?  More deeply it posits that we don't really know what our deepest desire is, but if it were revealed to you, by some force, would you be able to live with yourself knowing what it is?"

 

I highly recommend it.

 

Tarkovsky was a magnificent film maker.  I recently picked up the box set of his films, I'm rationing them to stretch out the experience.  His control of perception and his use of long shots in timing out moments, crafting tension and drawing one into the world of the film is second to none in my opinion. 

Edited August 12, 2021 by silent thunder

[Ano Eremita]

19 minutes ago, silent thunder said:

Solaris is a fantastic film!  It was like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky to me.

Have you also seen his film Stalker? 

 

i adore his movies; seen several

amazing film maker

but this one was so different from others of his i’ve seen

it blew me back inside

 

no i haven’t seen Stalker 

have been meaning to see if i can find the movie

 

ahh i see it’s on archive dot org

Edited August 12, 2021 by Ano Eremita

[Toni]

I haven't seen the film, but Solaris is one of the best books I have ever read. Very good!

[silent thunder]

Solaris was my first experience of his work.  I went into it utterly blind, just chose it based on the title and was fortunate to catch a rerelease of it at an Art house on a big screen.

 

I was rapt, absolutely drawn in from the opening sequence, and as the scope of it slowly expanded and the process played out throughout the entire story... it was a unique experience.

 

For many hours after, the influence it had on my perception was intense.  He was truly gifted at perceptual manipulation.  He posits deeply penetrating questions in his work.  I deeply appreciate that.

 

Tarkovsky's style reminds me of and seems to have a similarity with Stanley Kubrick's approach, particularly in shot length and editing and in tackling deeply philosophical topics.  They both weave in their control of perception and their pacing of shot length and editing that for me, crafts a deeper experience than more traditional 'quick shot' films. 

 

Walking out of the theater, and back into my world after viewing one of their films is often surreal.  I adore that.

[Taomeow]

I just finished watching Katla, an Icelandic series on Netflix, which IMO is conceptually inspired by Solaris (or else is a rip-off, but in a different setting.)  Of course it falls way short...  but maybe someone will be interested -- it's in English.  

 

 

[Ano Eremita]

8 hours ago, Taomeow said:

I just finished watching Katla

 

i have downloaded season 1 at the request of my other half

haven't watched it yet

still revisiting parts of Solaris - powerful stuff

 

btw, i have the russian version of Solaris with english subtitles

Edited August 13, 2021 by Ano Eremita

[Ano Eremita]

19 hours ago, silent thunder said:

highly recommend it.

got it - remastered version. will watch over the weekend.

 

Nostalghia (1983) 

The Steamroller and the Violin (1961)

Mirror (1975)

. . . amazing 🎞️

 

[Nungali]

And also, dont forget Cliff Martinez !

 

 

 

 

[Ano Eremita]

On 8/12/2021 at 8:58 PM, Taomeow said:

I just finished watching Katla, an Icelandic series on Netflix, which IMO is conceptually inspired by Solaris (or else is a rip-off, but in a different setting.)  Of course it falls way short...  but maybe someone will be interested -- it's in English.  

 

 

 

I see what you mean "falls way short"

I watched two episodes and well yeah, it's kinda interesting, but linear sort-of-story-telling

to be fair, i will watch all of season one

thanks for your post

 

must say this . . .

synchronicity at play?

my friend-for-life mentioned it hours before i saw your post

[doc benway]

Solaris had a profound impact on me as well. I didn't like the remake.

My favorite Tarkovsy film is probably Andrei Rublev but they're all powerful and unique.

While Stalker was a great film, I feel like it was more of Tarkovsky's expression inspired by the book.

I got a better sense of the Strugatskys' actual story and intent from Roadside Picnic.

For me they were very different.

I watched the first episode of Katla a few weeks ago but haven't gotten back to it yet.

 

 

[Taomeow]

8 hours ago, Ano Eremita said:

 

I see what you mean "falls way short"

I watched two episodes and well yeah, it's kinda interesting, but linear sort-of-story-telling

to be fair, i will watch all of season one

thanks for your post

 

must say this . . .

synchronicity at play?

my friend-for-life mentioned it hours before i saw your post

 

Yeah, I found Katla rather mediocre, but I also thought it was a strange synchronicity that this thread about Solaris appeared the very next day after I announced (in my home that is), "hey, they're ripping off Solaris!"   

[Ano Eremita]

17 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

I also thought it was a strange synchronicity that this thread about Solaris appeared the very next day after I announced (in my home that is), "hey, they're ripping off Solaris!"

 

now that is amazing !!!

and we’re probably on different sides of the planet

 

[Ano Eremita]

On 8/12/2021 at 7:43 PM, silent thunder said:

Have you also seen his film Stalker?

 

actually i have seen Stalker a long time ago and forgot about it (maybe i forgot the title)
began watching last night and remembered

every time i see something new

'cause my mind wonders, picking up on something seen/said, during a viewing and i miss out on certain things

also,  points of view alter with time and space changes = experience

only watched half the movie so far - continue tonight

thanks for the reminder!

[Ano Eremita]

On 8/15/2021 at 7:11 PM, Taomeow said:

I found Katla rather mediocre,

 

agree!

i watched all the episodes 

 

around these parts there's a saying, when translated into english, goes like this . . .

'yes well no fine'

 

so, now i'm re-watching 'Stalker'

 

On 8/15/2021 at 5:50 PM, steve said:

My favorite Tarkovsy film is probably Andrei Rublev

 

yeah! that was my first Andrei Tarkovsky movie

will soon move on to another Tarkovsky movie 'The Sacrifice' (1986) 

 

On 8/12/2021 at 8:32 PM, Toni said:

I haven't seen the film, but Solaris is one of the best books I have ever read. Very good!

 

 

watch the movie! visually interesting too

i haven't read the book

[Ano Eremita]

got the book . . .

'Roadside Picnic' by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
translated from the Russian by Antonina W. Bouis

 

if anyone's interested . . .

here's the link