Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Thinking Person's Science Fiction



With the brainy 'Inception' ruling the roost Wired takes a look at other smarty pants sci-fi.

Included in the rundown are 'Sunshine' (which didn't come off as cerebral in the least), 'Moon', 'The Iron Giant' (which didn't come off as science fiction), 'The Matrix', '2001: A Space Odyssey', and others.

My fave on the list is 'Solaris', Steven Soderbergh's remake (of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film) with George Clooney and Natascha McElhone.

What the movie is about is hard to pin down, and differing interpretations and can whip up engaging discussion.

Most feel it deals with people's thoughts and/or memories coming to life and taking physical form as a result of being on a space station in close proximity to a strange planet which emits visible bands of energy.

I think that's too simple a take. (MILD SPOILER) To me, 'Solaris' is about the dead visiting loved ones who are aboard the space ship so that some conflict in their relationship (that the living person feels guilty or even tormented about) may be resolved.

This is one you can sink your teeth into. Very cerebral indeed, 'Solaris' is not the easiest movie to watch, but is one of Soderbergh's more underrated efforts and worth a shot.

I'll have to watch it again soon.






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