''Solaris'' (russian: Солярис) is a two-part 1968

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television movi ...

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

based on the 1961 novel ''

Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...

'' by

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...

. It was the first film adaptation of the novel. It was first aired on Channel 1 of the

Soviet Central Television The Central Television of the USSR (russian: Центральное телевидение СССР, translit=Tsentral'noye televideniye SSSR; abbr. CT USSR .html" ;"title="/nowiki>">/nowiki>/nowiki>) was the state television broadcaster of the ...

on October 8–9, 1968, with repeat on October 10–11, 1968. On January 29, 2009 the film was released on DVD (in Russian). On 14 April 2019 the film was shown under the title Solyaris at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

in London (as part of the Stanislaw Lem on Film series within the Kinoteka festival of Polish film) with English subtitles commissioned for the screening that were composited over the film live by the translator.

Plot

Dr. Kris Kelvin arrives on Solaris Station, a

space station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...

orbiting the

ocean planet An ocean world, ocean planet, panthalassic planet, maritime world, water world or aquaplanet, is a type of planet that contains a substantial amount of water in form of oceans, either beneath the surface, as subsurface oceans, or on the surfa ...

of Solaris. The scientists there have been studying the planet and its ocean for many decades. Shortly before Kelvin's arrival, the crew exposed the ocean to a high-energy

gamma-ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic wav ...

bombardment. The ocean's response tests the scientists' minds by confronting them with their most painful thoughts and memories. The ocean does this by materializing physical human

simulacra A simulacrum (plural: simulacra or simulacrums, from Latin ''simulacrum'', which means "likeness, semblance") is a representation or imitation of a person or thing. The word was first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, us ...

. Kelvin confronts memories of his dead lover and guilt about her

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. The torments of the other researchers are only suggested, but seem even worse than Kelvin's personal ordeal. The ocean's intelligence expresses physical phenomena in ways difficult for their limited science to explain, deeply upsetting the scientists. The alien mind of Solaris appears to differ so much from the human mind that communication doesn't seem possible. In a final experiment, Snaut and Sartorius record Kelvin's brain waves and beam them at Solaris. Unknown to Snaut and Sartorius, Kelvin, while his brain waves are being recorded, wishes that Kelvin and Snaut's visitors disappear but Harey stays. Kelvin tells the crew that he and Harey are to return to Earth. However, Snaut talks to Harey in private and says that she will not be allowed on Earth and would not make it anyway since she only exists because of the energy directed at the space station by Solaris. The night before Kelvin and Harey are due to leave, Harey tricks Kelvin into taking a sleeping draught and while he is asleep writes a second suicide note to him, then goes to Snaut and Sartorius who have built a machine to cancel out the effects of Solaris making the visitors disappear. Harey asks them what it will be like, Snaut says it 'will be like a flash and breath of wind'. Harey is gone, the visitors do not return and the three scientists agree to stay on the station.

Cast

Vasily Lanovoy Vasily Semyonovich Lanovoy (russian: Василий Семёнович Лановой; (16 January 1934 – 28 January 2021) was a Soviet and Ukrainian Russian actor who worked in the Vakhtangov Theatre, Moscow. He was also known as the Preside ...

as Dr. Kris Kelvin *

Vladimir Etush Vladimir Abramovich Etush (russian: Влади́мир Абра́мович Э́туш; 6 May 1922 – 9 March 2019) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor of Jewish descent. People's Artist of the USSR (1984). Personal life Etush was ...

as Dr. Snaut * Viktor Zozulin as Dr. Sartorius * as Harey

References

External links

*
''Solaris'' (1968,RU) - Film Images.

(

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''Солярис'' (1968,RU) КИНО-ТЕАТР.Forum comments, RU
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Video - ''Solaris'' (1968) - Trailer (00:54)
{{Stanisław Lem 1968 television films 1968 films Fiction set on ocean planets Soviet television films Existentialist films 1960s science fiction drama films Films based on Polish novels Films based on science fiction novels Films based on works by Stanisław Lem Films about psychiatry Films set on fictional planets Films shot in Los Angeles Russian nonlinear narrative films Russian science fiction drama films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links