Solyaris / Солярис

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky (The Sacrifice / Offret, Nostalghia)
Cast: Donatas Banionis, Natalya Bondarchuk, Jüri Järvet, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko
Soviet Union, 1972

Seen: March 12, 2007 at Cinematheque Ontario with Jamie and Justin

Reason to see: A chance to see the original version of the Sci Fi film? Are you kidding me? Sign me up! Also, I am on my third attempt of #7 on my 101 list: See 1 film a week in the theatre for a year. This is the first film in week 12/52.

I was really excited to have the opportunity to see this film, of course than I remembered my reactions to other 70's sci fi film which would be in a word: scared!! (see my scariest films ever list here). Alas, this film didn't scare me and I was a little disappointed. It was pretty long, pretty slow and pretty quiet (I could hear people breathing). I also had already seen the American 2002 version of the film so I did have an idea of where the film could go, and I think ultimately that is what would have kept me from really enjoying seeing this version. There are quite a few interesting ideas in there, of which I'm not going to elaborate because I do thing they are worth experiencing as the story unfolds without knowing ahead of time.

I did enjoy the cinematography, the stylistic choices in terms of the look and feel of the environments as well as the acting, including Donatas Banionis but favourite was Natalya Bondarchuk as Hari

Shannon's Overall View:
I'm glad I saw it
I'd watch it again, probably if I could get the DVD
I'd recommend it to fans of 70's SciFi; as well as anyone who likes SciFi but whom hasn't seen the US version

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© Shannon Ridler, 2007