Solyaris (1972)

Director:

Andrei Tarkovsky

Writers:

Stanislaw Lem (novel)
Fridrikh Gorenshtein (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 March 1972 (Soviet Union)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Solaris mission has established a base on a planet that appears to host some kind of intelligence...

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Psychologist | Ocean | Space Station | Hallucination

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Natalya Bondarchuk	...	Hari
Donatas Banionis	...	Kris Kelvin
Jüri Järvet	...	Dr. Snaut
Vladislav Dvorzhetsky	...	Henri Berton
Nikolai Grinko	...	Kelvin's Father
Anatoli Solonitsyn	...	Dr. Sartorius
Sos Sargsyan	...	Dr. Gibarian (as S. Sarkisyan)
Olga Barnet	...	Kelvin's Mother (as O. Barnet)
Tamara Ogorodnikova	...	Aunt Anna
Georgi Tejkh	...	Prof. Messenger (as G. Tejkh)
Yulian Semyonov	...	Chairman at Scientific Conference (as Yu. Semyonov)
Olga Kizilova	...	Gibarian's Guest (as O. Kizilova)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vitalik Kerdimun		(as V. Kerdimun)
Tatyana Malykh
Aleksandr Misharin		(as A. Misharin)
Bagrat Oganesyan		(as B. Oganesyan)
V. Statsinsky
Valentina Sumenova		(as V. Sumenova)

Directed by
Andrei Tarkovsky

Writing credits
Stanislaw Lem		(novel "Solaris")
Fridrikh Gorenshtein		(screenplay) &
Andrei Tarkovsky		(screenplay)

Produced by
Viacheslav Tarasov	....	producer

Original Music by
Eduard Artemyev

Cinematography by
Vadim Yusov

Film Editing by
Lyudmila Feiginova
Nina Marcus

Production Design by
Mikhail Romadin

Costume Design by
Yelena Fomina		(as Nelli Fomina)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
A. Ides	....	assistant director
Yuri Kushneryov	....	assistant director
Larisa Tarkovskaya	....	assistant director
Maria Chugunova	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Special Effects by
A. Klimenko	....	special effects artist
V. Sevostyanov	....	special effects camera

Camera and Electrical Department
Vadim Murashko	....	photographer (as V. Murashko)
Yuri Nevsky	....	assistant camera
E. Paramanov	....	chief lighting technician
Yevgeni Shvedov	....	camera operator (as Ye. Shvedov)

Music Department
Raisa Lukina	....	music editor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Creative Unit of Writers & Cinema Workers
• Mosfilm
• Unit Four

Distributors

• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (1972) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Magna (1976) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Sci-Fi Pictures Inc./Magna Distribution Corp. (1979) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Contemporary Films (1990) (UK) (all media)
• Fox Lorber (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Artificial Eye (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• RUSCICO (2004) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Seagull Films (2006-2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• General Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Empresa Hispanoamericana de Video (EHV) (Argentina) (video)
• Fox Lorber (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Sovexportfilm (Argentina)
• Taipan Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Mosfilm F/X Unit

Also Known As:

Solaris (UK) (USA)
Солярис (Soviet Union: Russian title)

Runtime:

165 min | Italy:115 min (first release)

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

German | Russian

Color:

Black and White | Color (Sovcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/12 | USA:TV-G (cable rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | UK:A (original rating) | Hong Kong:I | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Akasaka, Minato, Japan

Company:

Creative Unit of Writers & Cinema Workers

Trivia:

In Kris Kelvin's room, it is possible to see an icon painted by Andrei Rublev, the Russian painter who inspired Tarkovsky's Andrey Rublyov (1966).

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the scene of zero gravity, a candle is seen burning. The shape of a candle's flame in conditions where gravity exists is produced by rising of hot air, which is lighter. In conditions of zero gravity adjective "lighter" has no meaning. Therefore, this candle should not burn or should burn looking like it is glowing.

Quotes:

Kris Kelvin: You mean more to me than any scientific truth.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Free Enterprise (1998)

Soundtrack:

Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ

had to watch it twice

I'm just starting out into the vast world of foreign film and having seen this film on many a video store shelf, and knowing that it was considered a sci-fi classic, I thought it would be a good way to spend an evening. Based on the case I was expecting something along the line of typical American sci-fi. Needless to say I was wrong.

I watched Solyaris twice in two days, because the first time I saw it I knew that I hadn't processed even a quarter of what I knew was there. I was taken completely aback. The second viewing was extremely rewarding.

It was unusual for me, raised as I was on the sledgehammer moralizing and we'll make our point so obvious that there's no way you can miss it because we have no respect for your intelligence way of American film. I'm a huge literature buff, and this was one of the very few films I've confronted that is thoughtful and has so many things to say yet does it in a literary or poetic fashion.

You will get out of this film what you bring to it. I've been to so many movies where the audience is not actually participating, it's being attacked. But true art is not domineering; it woos you.

So to sum up, I greatly appreciated Tarkovsky's unwillingness to manipulate the viewer. It showed that he had respect for me as a thinking soul, and it is this love and respect for humanity which makes this a truly great film.