httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhPYyU5OalI
From Steven Soderburgh’s 2002 film adaptation of Solaris. This clip is especially beautiful; you’ll want to see it (although it is not, unfortunately, embedded; click on the image and hit the YouTube link)
Stanislaw Lem died on this date in 2006 (born 1921).
Frye read Lem and alluded to him regularly to illustrate the relationship between science fiction and romance:
The twofold focus on reality, inside and outside the mind at once, is particularly important when we are reading what is called fantasy. Stanislaw Lem’s story of a kingdom created from robots, The Seventh Sally, raises questions that have tormented us for centuries, about the relation of God or the gods to man, about the distinction between an organism and a mechanism, about the difference between what is created and what has come into existence by itself. (CW 18, 190)
A more powerful version of Solaris, I think, is Andrei Tarkovsky’s adaptation (1972). It is doubtless what inspired Soderbergh to try his hand. You can find a scene from Tarkovsky’s version here:
http://www.criterion.com/films/553
Tarkovsky is a giant in the history of cinema. Ingmar Bergman had this to say about him: “Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream.”
You are right, Joe. I posted this clip because it was available and it is beautiful, even though it is from the inferior film version.
The good news is that I’ve secured an online copy of Tarkovsky’s film and will be posting it next Saturday night. I’ve also got a bangin’ observation from Frye that nicely complements your Bergman quote.