reiher@UCLA-CS.ARPA (03/27/84)
From: Peter Reiher <reiher@UCLA-CS.ARPA> These are a pair of science fiction movies by a Soviet director named Andrei Tarkovsky. The easiest way to tell if you would like them is your reaction to "2001". If any moment of "2001" bored you, you're not going to like "Stalker" at all, and probably not "Solaris", either. Tarkovsky's films are beautiful, but slow. (He's particularly fond of shots of shallow water filled with assorted debris). Shots tend to be long, and the story doesn't move quickly. For that matter, the films themselves tend to be long (2 1/2 hrs. +). You need patience to appreciate them, but they have many virtues for those who can stick with them. What makes them really difficult is that, in order to appreciate them, you absolutely must pay attention to them, even in the slower moments. "Solaris" is based on the Lem novel recently discussed in the digest. I haven't read the book, but I strongly suspect that it is much less cryptic than the film. It concerns a space station set up above a living planet. The planet has bizarre effects on the scientists in the station, even driving some of them to suicide. Another scientist is sent to investigate, and the film is basically about his investigation. No big special effects shots, no shoot-outs or mad chases, almost no action in the conventional sense. Personally, I prefer "Stalker", which is even slower. Some unexplained disaster has caused weird effects in an area of Russia. Soldiers sent in to investigate it disappear. The Soviets wall the area off, and patrol the boundaries. However, a rumor has gotten out that there is a room somewhere in the area (called "The Zone") which, if visited, will give the visitor his true heart's desire. Two men, a writer and a scientist, hire a guide, known as a stalker, to take them into the Zone. It seems peaceful and harmless, but any mistep can result in their deaths (or maybe it won't; nothing is certain in the Zone). The stalker, who can never visit the room himself, must guide his skeptical clients through the invisible hazards. Don't get the idea that this is terribly suspenseful. The pace of the film is stately, to put it politely. The visuals are stunning, though, and there is great intelligence behind the film. Again, no real action or special effects. Peter Reiher reiher@ucla-cs