''Solaris'' (, tr. ''Solyaris'') is a two-part 1968

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

based on the 1961 novel ''

Solaris Solaris is the Latin word for sun. It 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 ** ''Sol ...

'' by

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer. He was the author of many novels, short stories, and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fi ...

. It was the first film adaptation of the novel. It was first aired on Channel 1 of the Soviet Central Television 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, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

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 (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...

orbiting the

ocean planet An ocean world, ocean planet or water world is a type of planet or natural satellite that contains a substantial amount of water in the form of oceans, as part of its hydrosphere, either beneath the planetary surface, surface, as subsurface ...

. 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 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 (: simulacra or simulacrums, from Latin ''simulacrum'', meaning "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, used to des ...

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

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. 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 (16 January 193428 January 2021) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russia, Russian actor who worked in the Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Vakhtangov Theatre, Moscow. He was also known as the President of Artek (camp), Artek Festiv ...

as Dr. Kris Kelvin * Vladimir Etush 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 films 1968 television films Soviet television films 1960s science fiction drama films Soviet black-and-white films Soviet science fiction drama films Russian science fiction drama films Russian-language science fiction drama films Russian nonlinear narrative films Films based on Polish novels Films based on science fiction novels Films based on works by Stanisław Lem Films based on speculative fiction works Soviet speculative fiction films Films about psychiatry Films set on fictional planets Films shot in Los Angeles Fiction set on ocean planets Existentialist films Science fiction about first contact Solaris

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links