Solaris

Solaris (2002) B+

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Cast includes: George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis, and Ulrich Tukur
Color, Sci-Fi, Romance
 
This version is based on a novel and film from the Soviet Union of the same name about cosmonauts’ strange experiences on another planet. In this film a psychologist (Clooney) is contacted by a friend (Tukur) to join him on a mission due to strange happenings on their spaceship. When he arrives the silence and blood that greet him create an anxious atmosphere that pervades the screen. Clooney finds that his friend has committed suicide and the two remaining crew members are plagued by bizarre fears. As it turns out, the planet the ship is orbiting, Solaris, creates a “visitor” created by their memories of that “visitor” for each person on board. Clooney’s is his dead wife, McElhone, who we find out through flashbacks committed suicide when Clooney left their marriage.
 
These flashbacks are emotional and powerful; the visuals of the planet and inside the ship are pleasing. Jeremy Davies, before he spent time on “the island” on Lost, provides comic relief with something strange lurking under the surface. Soderbergh does a great job of telling a story without overloading us with dialogue. Slightly reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Solaris is a troubling examination of emotions and memory.