tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post9025157297658032325..comments2024-03-28T14:49:36.133-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: Cult Movie Review: Solaris (2002)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-54809102646618633802016-04-05T00:03:49.420-04:002016-04-05T00:03:49.420-04:00I've read many analyses of Solaris, and I thin...I've read many analyses of Solaris, and I think your second interpretation nails it. <br /><br />My view of the planer itself falls closer to what Tarkovsky did in the first Solaris: it's an omniscient and benevolent presence that uses its power to bring resolution and peace to those who visit it AND ACCEPT IT.<br /><br />If you recall the ending to the first movie, the planet re-created on its surface a simulacrum of Kelvin's father's farm (though an imperfect one, as it was raining indoors), and presumably enabled Kelvin to inhabit this place for eternity. Same thing in Solaris 2: the planet reaches out to Kelvin (via the child) and when Kelvin accepts, Solaris places him in a blissful eternity--beyond life and death--with Rheya.wsfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15372449216981884785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-64105989807344280062015-09-19T00:15:50.226-04:002015-09-19T00:15:50.226-04:00Whoa, vibrating links on the right! I can't de...Whoa, vibrating links on the right! I can't deal! Can't read your review, even tho it seems so thoughtful! :(Yo Peoplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08524534383257216765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-51691431844867938032013-11-09T19:09:40.414-05:002013-11-09T19:09:40.414-05:00Thank you. Clooney has acted in at least two films...Thank you. Clooney has acted in at least two films with epiphanatic themes where the protagonist goes through the vale of jerome - ascent via decent - and epistemic reversal. This and Michael Clayton - the horse scene in latter is unbearingly delicate yet powerful. One could teach an entire postmodern theology/philosophical anthropology course via both films - whoever is writing the screen plays has certainly studied/read judiciously and Clooney himself was/Is Catholiccraig russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11092313847408908286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-51449995425733615412012-11-21T14:38:32.867-05:002012-11-21T14:38:32.867-05:00The peculiar stare into the camera - the first in...The peculiar stare into the camera - the first instance I saw it was in "The sommar with. Monica by Bergman about 1953. Very intimate, puzzling, disturbing, intricate and unexplicable.<br /> Josef.Makower(at)gmail(dot)comjmakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415459721744505400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-38928201625924081222012-07-20T17:05:29.046-04:002012-07-20T17:05:29.046-04:00John, truly astounding insights. Thank you. As I r...John, truly astounding insights. Thank you. As I read it, I don't know why, but I kept thinking about Crowe's film, his take on Abre Los Ojos, Vanilla Sky. There is some kind of sub-surface ferment in VS that kept bouncing me from film to film. One could certainly argue a certain degree of 'horror' behind the many masks of Vanilla Sky. I searched your blog expecting to potentially find some connection. Food for thought. Again, thanks for umasking Solaris! - Chris T.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-41579712026506207162012-07-18T10:55:10.432-04:002012-07-18T10:55:10.432-04:00Your second interpretation has an extension that I...Your second interpretation has an extension that I would like to make that relates to the idea that all persons are believers (whether they acknowledge it or not), but simply have different expressions of that belief. I use the word belief not in its ideological sense as assent to an idea, dogma or literal truth, but rather in the original etymological sense of loyally, fidelity and faith in the worthwhileness of life. I commend to you as a source for my interpretation an essay by renowned 20th Century theologian Schubert Ogden titled the Strange Witness of Unbelief, part of a collection of essays in his book, The Reality of God. Ogden opines that everyone as soon as and as often as they are human (sentient) at all asks the question, can I be assured/reassured that life is ultimately worthwhile/meaningful. This single question encompasses a whole array of other questions peculiar to every sentient being such as who am I; what's my place in the universe; why am I here and on and on. Religion is simply (easy for me to say) a cultural expression through symbols, texts and rituals of the affirmation that life is worthwhile on some level because the alternative is we could not get up in the morning and do anything if we didn’t believe there was some worth in doing so - we would instead commit suicide, a path taken by several characters in Solaris. As Ogden's article points out, while the existentialists like Sartre were avowed atheists, believing that theism was no longer credible in the modern world since the only theism they knew was supernaturalism and God had not intervened to prevent suffering, their writings nevertheless witnessed strangely to human beings overcoming depression to boldly live in affirmation of life. This is the strange witness of unbelief. In Solaris, science fiction witnesses to the post-modern rejection of God as conceived in a pre-scientific age, and religion as hopelessly antiquated in a post-modern world, but the questions asked in the film don't go away. Humans continue to ask them. The film itself becomes a strange witness to the meaningfulness of human life and attempts to find religious symbols that make sense in a futuristic world. My only disagreement then with your interpretation is that there is both a mirror - human conceptions of who or what God is or the purpose of our lives are; but there is also a very real manifestation of God which we can only stab at with inadequate symbols and language, but which nevertheless gives us reassurance of the worthwhileness of life, because without that we could only end it. The eternal preservation of every occasion of experience within the life of an eternal presence would, if real, make every occasion of experience in our lives valuable, meaningful, even eternally significant. Who cares how this belief is imaged or imagined in one or another religious system - the important thing is to imagine it at all which is what Soderburgh brilliantly does in this film. He recognizes and finds appropriate cinematic images to symbolize that there really is something more to life than our own limited conceptualizations and whether someone sees Buddha, Jesus or a child, that is not so important as discovering the ultimate reality that underlies what these symbols only portray with varying degrees of adequacy and which give us the reassurance that life is ultimately worth living. Perhaps an expanding planet within a universe of possibility for exploration; or the beauty in the face of someone we love are both somehow more effective symbols. The visual character of the images the director chooses point to a reality that transcends the mirror in spite of the limits of our conceptualizations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-25775457935401465922012-07-17T21:07:45.869-04:002012-07-17T21:07:45.869-04:00Hi FC:
I hope you enjoy your viewing of Solaris w...Hi FC:<br /><br />I hope you enjoy your viewing of Solaris when you watch it this week. I appreciate your kind words about my review, and I agree with you that films featuring religious and spiritual connotations can be incredibly beautiful and incredibly intriguing. <br /><br />I would love to read your analysis of Prometheus, another film with religious connotations (vis-a-vis the foot washing scene, specifically).<br /><br />Thank you for writing an excellent comment!<br /><br />best,<br />JohnJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-79296874263793701952012-07-17T21:06:08.972-04:002012-07-17T21:06:08.972-04:00Hi SGB,
Solaris definitely has that Year One Spac...Hi SGB,<br /><br />Solaris definitely has that Year One Space:1999 vibe, I agree. It's the mode of silent intelligence, of frightening mystery, and intimations of spirituality. I love that Space:1999 had those qualities and love it when science fiction films champion the same virtues.<br /><br />I agree that this Solaris (along with the original) deserves to be cherished by genre audiences. The visuals are remarkably artistic, and incredibly satisfying.<br /><br />I also noticed the "nose" of Athena was a call-back to our (now-retired) space shuttle. Another nice touch in a film with many.<br /><br />Thank you for writing, my friend.<br /><br />Best,<br />JohnJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-32913943013972405452012-07-17T21:03:25.918-04:002012-07-17T21:03:25.918-04:00Thank you, Robert.
I agree with your assessment o...Thank you, Robert.<br /><br />I agree with your assessment of Solaris: an excellent science fiction film, and one of the best of the last decade, certainly.<br /><br />I should review Children of Men here. I watched it again recently, and (once more) found it absolutely devastating. There is hope at the end of course, but I still find the film immensely sad. It's hard for me to reckon with (which is silly, since it's such a fine film...), but I should bite the bullet and do it.<br /><br />Thank you for your excellent comment!<br /><br />best,<br />JohnJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-80347538074826688932012-07-17T16:35:08.511-04:002012-07-17T16:35:08.511-04:00Wow, okay, that's it, I'm watching this on...Wow, okay, that's it, I'm watching this one this week! Awesome review, truly awesome, I personally love films that have religious connotations (the most recent one being Prometheus) so reading your review of this film got me all fired up to see it, for some reason, I've never finished seeing this one! Thanks for reminding me I need to check it out. Again: fantastic review! By the way, I recently wrote an article that analyzes the themes on Prometheus, you might enjoy it.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-72356695479765467302012-07-17T14:14:16.351-04:002012-07-17T14:14:16.351-04:00I have seen both versions of Solaris. John I find ...I have seen both versions of Solaris. John I find your review here extremely important and a must read for anyone that sees this film. This review is a catalyst for a greater appreciation of Solaris as Blade Runner was eventually elevated to the status it has. Your posted screen grab photos explain how truly symbolic visuals are throughout Solaris. Star Wars had the force, Star Trek:Generations(1994) had the nexus, Space:1999 first season had a mysterious unknown force in the universe guiding the Alphans[which you discussed in your book ‘Exploring Space:1999’] and Solaris had planet Solaris. Assurance of salvation is fascinating and hopeful. I believe the planet Solaris would have easily fit into a first season episode of Space:1999. I must admit watching this film for the first time I constantly felt the Space:1999 season 1 vibe haunting me. Almost like George Clooney had arrived at the Space Station Prometheus in an Eagle Transporter instead of the Athena. The production design of the Athena has a bow which is a nod to the now retired NASA Space Shuttle Orbiter. <br /><br />SGBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-12039167302055067742012-07-17T11:43:11.727-04:002012-07-17T11:43:11.727-04:00A great analysis.
SOLARIS is certainly one of the...A great analysis.<br /><br />SOLARIS is certainly one of the best SF movies of the last dozen years or so.<br /><br />We'll get to see Clooney in space again next year, in Cuaron's GRAVITY.<br /><br />Hey, speaking of Cuaron...how about a review of CHILDREN OF MEN? CHILDREN OF MEN would probably get my vote for best SF film of the 00s.Robertnoreply@blogger.com