Solaris

(Solyaris, Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR 1972, 167 min., 35mm, Russian w/subtitles)

Andrei Tarkovsky turns an innovative, pensive eye to the Space Age in one of his most critically acclaimed and globally recognized efforts. In this visually stunning work, a psychologist travels to a space station orbiting the distant planet Solaris, finding the crew wrecked by emotional crisis and haunted by mysterious alien creatures. As he struggles to help the crew, he soon succumbs to the same crippling forces and discovers that the planet below is not what it seems. With patient, breathtaking cinematography and a metaphysically charged screenplay, this quiet gem of world cinema throws convention to the wind, inducing an experience that is dreamlike, cerebral, and unlike any other science fiction film.