SOLARIS (2002)

MORGAN'S RATING

Upon arrival at an isolated research space station orbiting a bizarre ocean world called Solaris, a troubled psychologist named Chris Kelvin discovers that the commander of an expedition to the planet has died mysteriously. Other strange events soon start happening as well, such as the appearance of old acquaintances of the crew, including some of who are dead. Traffic director Steven Soderbergh directs this remake of the 1972 film, which is also co-produced by Titanic helmer James Cameron.

George Clooney (Chris Kelvin), Natascha McElhone (Rheya Kelvin), Viola Davis (Helen Gordon), Jeremy Davies (Snow), Ulrich Tukur (Dr. Gibarian), John Cho, Morgan Rusler (DBA Emissaries), Shane Skelton (Gibarian's Son), Michael Ensign, Elpidia Carrillo (Friends), Kent Faulcon, Lauren Cohn (Patients), Jude S. Walko (City Dweller, uncredited).

THERE ARE SOME PLACES MAN IS NOT READY TO GO.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh. WRITER: Steven Soderbergh, and based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem. PRODUCERS: James Cameron, Jon Landau and Rae Sanchini.  CO-PRODUCERS: Charles V. Bender and Michael Polaire. EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Gregory Jacobs. ORIGINAL MUSIC: Cliff Martinez. DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century Fox

QUOTES

FACTS

Chris Kelvin: And death shall have no dominion. Dead men naked they shall be one with the man in the wind and the west moon. When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone they shall have stars at elbow and foot. Though they go mad they shall be sane.  Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again. Though lovers be lost love shall not. And death shall have no dominion.

RELEASE DATE: November 27th, 2002 (USA) DVD RELEASE DATE: July 29th, 2003 (USA) BOX OFFICE OPENING: $6.7 million  (USA) BOX OFFICE RESULT: $14.9 million (USA) BUDGET: $47 million (USA)  SHOOTING DATES: May 2002 -- July 2002 - James Cameron considered directing but opted to produce instead. Daniel Day-Lewis was considered to star. - Was originally given an R rating by the MPAA primarily due to a pair of shots of George Clooney's nude rear end. Steven Soderbergh appealed to the decision, citing that similar content (and worse) had appeared on network television. Soderbergh won the appeal and the movie was granted a PG-13 rating. - In the final train scene, a Chicago L platform sign (Merchandise Mart) is clearly visible, though out of focus. Footage of the sign must have been looped to make the station seem much longer than it actually is: on the side of the station that's open to backlight, there are only two such signs mounted on metal balustrades, about 25 feet apart, but in the movie the train appears to pass more than a dozen. - The verse of poetry spoken by Chris Kelvin is a poem by Dylan Thomas called "And Death Shall Have no Dominion". - There is a sign on Athena's engines stating "Dals Ed Mitt i naturen". Dals Ed is a small town in western Sweden close to the Norwegian border. The artist put it there because "Athena must have passed Dalsland sometime". - It rains in every scene set on Earth.

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 become reflexes again. But I was haunted by the idea that I remembered her wrong, and somehow I was wrong about everything.

Chris Kelvin: Am I alive, or dead? Rheya Kelvin: We don't have to think like that any more. We're together now. Everything we've done is forgiven. Everything.

Gibarian: If you think that there is a solution, you'll die here.

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"More concerned with overall feelings, broader ideas, and open-ended questions than concrete story and definitive answers, Soderberg's Solaris is a gorgeous and deceptively minimalist cinematic tone poem." -- Michael Deguina, Film.Threat

"Its audacious ambitions sabotaged by pomposity, Steven Soderberg's space opera emerges as a  numbingly dull experience." -- Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News

"It's a lovely, eerie film that casts an odd, rapt spell." -- Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

"It's an example of sophisticated, challenging filmmaking that stands, despite its noticeable lack of emotional heft, in welcome contrast to the indulgent dead-end experimentation of the director's previous Full Frontal." -- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"A mind-bender in the best sense of the word: the spell it casts follows you all the way home." -- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone