Solaris
Tarkovsky, you mad lad.
I return back to my pretentious foreign movie watchathon and what better than another Tarkovsky movie. I was so amped for this solely because I was absolutely swept away by his first debut war movie , Ivan's childhood and this movie had me very curious as apparently, this movie came out of spite towards Kubrick's "2001: a space odyssey" and how emotional distant it felt (which is also a gripe I have about the movie) and I love when a movie has its emotional undertones. And with enough hype surrounding it, I dive in for a Tarkovsky round 2.
Solaris on the surface is a sci/fi movie but the layers and themes Tarkovsky plays at is just limitless yet it doesn't drag the movie down at all. The vague and ambiguous nature of the movie lets us as a viewer soak it all in yourself and personally for me, despite its commentary on human and its controlling nature and outlook towards things unknown, the themes that hit me personally were about love, grief and regret that under the guise of a sci/fi feels so damn powerful that you can't escape its grip throughout the movie.
This being my first Tarkovsky movie with actual colors feels like a treat as the way he integrates colors throughout his shots is surreal and the difference between his shots that are taken in Earth that feels warm and light and on the space station that feels cold and distant, are just amazing.
Donatas Banionis as Kris Kelvin and Natalya Bondarchuk as Hari are just phenomenal and the whole movie revolves around thier tumultuous relationship yet their individual acting prowess is nothing to scoff at. Personally, I prefer Natalya's work here going from fragile confusion to emotional conviction.
I am not a big Sci/Fi fan and like I do like its nature regarding exploration and unknown, Tarkovsky flips the script and instead of exploring something unknown, he takes us back to ourselves, he dives into the human psyche and it becomes something personal and unforgettable. This was very surreal and sent shivers down my spine. Masterpiece without a doubt.