Solaris 1972

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Solaris ★★ Solyaris 1972

With this the USSR tried to eclipse “2001: A Space Odyssey” in terms of cerebral science-fiction. Some critics thought they succeeded. You may disagree now that the lumbering effort is available on tape. Adapted from a Stanislaw Lem novel, it depicts a dilapidated space lab orbiting the planet Solaris, whose ocean, a vast fluid “brain,” materializes the stir-crazy cosmonauts' obsessions—usually morose ex-girlfriends. Talk, talk, talk, minimal special effects. In Russian with English subtitles. In a two-cassette package, with a letterbox format preserving Tarkovsky's widescreen compositions. 167m/C VHS, DVD . RU Donatas Banionis, Natalya Bondarchuk, Juri Jarvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetsky, Nikolai Grinko, Anatoli (Otto) Solonitzin, Sos Sarkisyan; D: Andrei Tarkovsky; W: Andrei Tarkovsky; C: Vadim Yusov; M: Eduard Artemyev. Cannes '72: Grand Jury Prize.