Solaris

The film has a hypnotic pull, drawing the viewer deeper and deeper into its enigmatic adventure by crafting a world all its own.

Tarkovsky's speculative visions enfold the mysteries of death and rebirth, the lost paradise of childhood, the power of art to define identity, the menace of science as destructive vanity ...

The effects are scanty, the drama gloomy, the philosophy of the film thick as a cloud of ozone. The plot is not all that original either.

Andrei Tarkovsky spins a strange, slow but absorbing parable on life and love in the guise of a sci-fi theme.

More an exploration of inner than of outer space, Tarkovsky's eerie mystic parable is given substance by the filmmaker's boldly original grasp of film language and the remarkable performances by all the principals.

It's a smart response to the superficial excesses of the sci-fi genre.

Easily one of the most important science fiction films of all time.

Andrei Tarkovsky's pacing is less moved by narrative detail than thematic and metaphorical suggestion.

Where 2001: A Space Odyssey's final act explored the limitless possibilities of human potential, the heart of Solaris' thesis is the crushing limitation of human psychological experience.

Tarkovsky's reach for the stars was wholly in keeping with his striving curiosity and allowed him space to explore the nature of identity and love.

Viewers with patience will find 'Solaris' mesmerizing, visual and emotional food for thought even if such thought is open to a rainbow of interpretations, or to none.

[VIDEO ESSAY] Andrei Tarkovsky's prodigious ability to conceptualize grand-scale narrative structure with a fluid sense of cinematic time continues to influence filmmakers even if few rise to such dizzying heights.