called it
Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris, based on Stanisław Lem's 1961 novel of the same name, tells the story of Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis), a psychologist who is sent to a space station orbiting the planet Solaris in order to better understand and evaluate the seemingly strange behavior of its resident scientists. Upon his arrival, Kelvin learns that Dr. Gibarian (Sos Sargsyan), one of the stationed scientists and a longtime friend, has killed himself and left behind a cryptic video in which he attempts to explain the bizarre goings-on. But Kelvin is not prepared for the unnerving world he finds—nor the unexpected people he meets. Tarkovsky set out to marry the psychological depth you’d typically find in a drama with the hypnotic visuals of a traditional sci-fi flick, creating a story that is as emotionally absorbing as it is aesthetically engrossing. A 2002 remake of Solaris, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney, didn’t quite reach the same landmark status as Tarkovsky’s cerebral original, though it received some impressive critical acclaim. BBC film reviewer Nev Pierce called it “one of the finest science fiction films since 2001: A Space Odyssey.”