A troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.A troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.A troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 11 nominations
- Patient #1
- (as Kent D. Faulcon)
- Patient #2
- (as Lauren M. Cohn)
- Passenger
- (uncredited)
- Dinner Guest
- (uncredited)
- Pedestrian
- (uncredited)
- Nurse
- (uncredited)
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSteven Soderbergh is quoted saying that if the audience does not enjoy the first 10 minutes of the film then they might as well leave.
- GoofsGordon says she's getting agoraphobic. Agoraphobia is an irrational fear of going out and facing crowds of people. Gordon is living on a Space Station. She stays in her cabin in fear of meeting the one other person. So it is Agoraphobia.
- Quotes
Chris Kelvin: Earth. Even the word sounded strange to me now... unfamiliar. How long had I been gone? How long had I been back? Did it matter? I tried to find the rhythm of the world where I used to live. I followed the current. I was silent, attentive, I made a conscious effort to smile, nod, stand, and perform the millions of gestures that constitute life on earth. I studied these gestures until they became reflexes again. But I was haunted by the idea that I remembered her wrong, and somehow I was wrong about everything.
- Crazy creditsThere are no credits at the beginning. All the credits are at the end of the film.
- ConnectionsFeatured in HBO First Look: Inside 'Solaris' (2002)
- SoundtracksRiddle Box
Written by Mike E. Clark and Violent J (as Joseph Bruce)
Performed by Insane Clown Posse
Courtesy of Jive Records
The plot revolves around a psychologist who is suffering deep emotional problems, which mainly seem to revolve around the suicide of his wife. So when he is floating aimlessly around a spaceship that orbits the titular planet, apparitions of his wife begin appearing. From what I am able to discern, an alien intelligence is trying to take over the ship's crew, in the hope that the ship will return to Earth and take them with it. Of course, the crew have other ideas.
In essence, it sounds a lot like the basic plot for Alien, minus the violence. Alien has a degree of violence, most of which is implied, and so too does Solaris. The difference here is that the violence is not essential to the plot. In fact, aside from a couple of corpses, you never really get to see any. Instead, we are given a good deal of exposition regarding the doctor's feelings regarding his wife and what he would do to have her back in any shape or form. When the Solaris alien appears in his cabin, it tells him everything he wants to hear, and appears exactly as he desires.
The big question posed by the film is whether we are the sum of how we, and more importantly other people, remember us, or whether there's more that defines our reality. Having struggled with other people's wrong impressions of me for most of my life, I have often pondered this question myself. When the apparition-clone of Rheya is suddenly deciding that it would be best for her and Chris if she no longer existed in this form, she asks simply if she has simply been slapped together from Chris' memories or desires. Nobody ever knows all there is to know about another person, and that's what makes the surrealism of the story so compelling.
I gave Solaris a seven out of ten. It was slow, and it could have been at least ten minutes longer, but it works as a nice little piece of thinking entertainment. Give it a once over, and you might be pleasantly surprised.
- mentalcritic
- Nov 18, 2004
- How long is Solaris?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $47,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $14,973,382
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,752,722
- Dec 1, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $30,002,758
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1