The introduction to Solaris will be given by Christiaan Caspers
What does the myth of Narcissus tell us about filter bubbles? How is the image of Pygmalion reshaped as a robot? And why is the love tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice re-enacted on a spaceship?
Cinema Mythologica shows how classical myths — from Prometheus to Pandora — continue to resonate in our cinematic imagination. Each film is introduced with a short reflection on the mythological theme, followed by a conversation in which we explore together how these films breathe new life into ancient myths.
With Solaris, Tarkovsky ventured into the realm of science fiction. No flashy space battles, but a meditation and existential drama about humanity and love. A psychologist is sent to a space station to investigate some strange events. The crew of a spaceship orbits the “ocean planet” Solaris. Solaris turns out to be capable—strange as it may sound—of probing and materializing unconscious fears and memories. Dreams, in short, become reality: astronaut Kelvin is visited by his former girlfriend, who took her own life long ago. Eventually the entire crew begins to hallucinate, and reality completely slips out of view.
Solaris, based on the book by Stanisław Lem, has been highly influential; Steven Soderbergh even made a remake starring George Clooney. The film is often described as the Russian counterpart to Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, but Tarkovsky himself distanced himself from that comparison. He also wanted to avoid the “technical exoticism” of traditional science fiction. The film was part of the Palme d’Or competition at the Cannes Film Festival.