Solaris (1972)

I know that I don't write reviews any more, but I thought Solaris deserved a little more than my recent pithy remarks.

For a man who was reported to dislike science-fiction, Tarkovsky sure creates amazing sci-fi films. All good science fiction, even the hard sci-fi that I love, should, at its very heart, tell us something about ourselves and Tarkovsky is a master of portraying the many facets of humanity, even within a construct that he loathes.

Solaris is a Nietzschean sci-fi in which Tarkovsky seems to ask three questions:

1) How important is it to face your fears and regrets as, in the process, we can either transform them into something wonderful or let them consume us.

2) Should science should be tempered by morality or does this limit our progress. This is exemplified by Kelvin's twin angels/demons of Dr Snaut (science tempered by morality) on one shoulder and Doktor Sartorius (unbound scientific exploration) on the other. How we deal with a something is just as important, if not more so, than the end product itself.

3) Is humanity defined by our memories and experiences or is there something greater?

There are a few little things that really popped out, to me at least:

I loved how Tarkovsky makes a comparison between the hive-like city with its roads, cars and noise and the reflecting, intelligent ocean on Solaris.

The differences between the Solaris and 2001 space stations reminded me of the apocryphal cosmonaut pencil story:

"During the height of the space race in the 1960s, legend has it, NASA scientists realised that pens could not function in space. They needed to figure out another way for the astronauts to write things down. So they spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars to develop a pen that could put ink to paper without gravity. But their crafty Soviet counterparts, so the story goes, simply handed their cosmonauts pencils."

The intermittently featured Bruegel painting. Bruegel was also a master at portraying humanity in its many, sometimes unflattering, forms.

As Nietzsche wrote "For when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.", but surely if we destroy the mirror, how do we recognise ourselves?

Letterboxd Review

Stalker (1979)

Biblical, Arthurian, a Soviet Wizard of Oz.

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

"Joy, beautiful spark of divinity,
Daughter from Elysium,
We enter, drunk with fire,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary!
Your magics join again
What custom strictly divided;
All people become brothers,
Where your gentle wing abides."

Letterboxd Review

Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)

March Around The World 2015 Challenge - France

This is one of the films on my list that has been worrying me; a clinically shot film about faith. Faith is guess work, assumption, and I prefer conclusions based on fact, knowledge. On the other hand I love donkeys, or dunkeys as it's pronounced down here. Okay Bresson, give me your best shot...

An innocent donkey is baptised and loved by innocents. Persecuted, beaten and chased by those he loves. Even when the plot does not directly concern Balthazar he is still witness to humankind's greatest gifts and it's deepest transgressions. Okay, so because we see how Balthazar suffers, and through him we can see our faults and learn to be nice to one another. That's not so bad. On the other hand we shouldn't need a parable about an abused donkey, or the promise of a carrot to learn morality.

The cinematography and editing is beautiful at times but the stilted (or tired) performances may not be to everyone's taste.

One thing I noted: how similar the young thugs on bikes at the beginning of the film are to the roller-blading demons from Dogma.

Original letterboxd review

The Turin Horse (2011)

March Around The World 2015 Challenge - Hungary

Everything we do has a purpose and that purpose must be accomplished with an economy of movement, using as little energy as possible. Why speak when there is nothing to say. A window. An empty birdcage. Work, eat, sleep. Eat, sleep. Sleep. The wind, always the wind.

Entropy caused by the inevitability of stasis. Until the end.

Sleep, I have work in the morning...

Original letterboxd review

Ivan’s Childhood (1962)

My Tarkovsky journey has started.

Stunning. The photography, the shot choice, the editing, the acting, the contrast, the dialogue, plot, location, composition, set design, everything; just stunning.

It's the little things that make this a stand out film. Ivan's jumper made from the left over bits of wool. The young age of the senior lieutenant because everyone else has been killed. The chicken on a string that can supply a vital egg for its owner. Galtsev lighting the wrong end of his cigarette. The engraving of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The reasons are not specified, just implied.

The destruction of youth, The death of hopes, dreams and the future.

Beautiful and heartbreaking.

Original letterboxd review