“We have named all the stars and all the planets, even though they might already have had names of their own.”
Just finished reading “Solaris,” on loan from John. I wanted to finish it before I saw the Soderbergh/Clooney movie. It was more an experience than a book – I’m still turning it around in my head. It’s a little too easy to get bogged down in the detailed scientific sections that describe the strange planet where the book is set, but the human relationship that is the real story here is fascinatingly ambiguous and worth a few bumps. The writing has flashes of brilliance, even in translation; apparently the book was translated into French from the original Polish, and then from French into English. That alone fascinates me.
After reading the book and some advance word on the movie, I agree with John that the movie is being marketed under false pretenses. Sci-fi! Space station! Love story! George Clooney and his butt! When what they’ll get is an introspective art film about the nature of existence. Still, that’s OK with me. One less Hollywood blockbuster in the world (Ocean’s Eleven, anybody?) is a good thing.
OK.
Except that I really loved “Ocean’s 11” for its charm and strong desire to entertain, and it was produced by the director/actor team of Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney who are responsible for this new version of “Solaris.” I trust them to do both types of film on a high level, and that’s good enough for me.
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I go now.
Matt
Also, an erratum: the book was on loan from Jesse through me.
“But through me, it would wield a power too great and terrible to imagine.”
–Sandra Bernhart, Sophie’s Choice
Actually, the movie is not being marketed under false prertenses, because that is precisely the movie that was made out of it. The “introspective art film about the nature of existance?” I think we’re still waiting for that.i
Really? Every review I’ve read says it’s closer to “2001” than “Ocean’s Eleven.”
For example, on Hidden City, Kevin wrote:
This is a movie about what it means to be human, about the drive behind morality, about the choices we make and how we cope with the consequences. Nothing is wrapped up in a neat little parcel, because we don’t get answers in life, either. Mull it over, roll it around in your brain, talk about it with friends later?if it makes you ask the questions, it’s a good film.