---
title: "Solaris"
year: 1972
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/solaris-1972"
fi1m_score: 87
critics_score: 75
critics_reviews: 14
published: "2026-09-21T03:33:32.999715+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-21T03:33:33.443438+00:00"
region: "ES"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Solaris (1972)

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky · 2h 47m · Drama, Science Fiction, Mystery

**Fi1m score: 87** · Critics 75 from 14 reviews

*In a sentence:* A remote space station turns out to be an impractical place to get over someone

> Andrei Tarkovsky’s *Solaris* makes space travel feel painfully lonely. Its grief and strange planetary images justify the patience it asks, though the long philosophical conversations sometimes explain what the performances have already made clear.

## Synopsis

On Earth, Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) prepares for a journey to a remote station near the planet Solaris. There, Dr. Snaut (Jüri Järvet) and Dr. Sartorius (Anatoly Solonitsyn) face a world that appears to respond to human needs. Kelvin wants to understand what is happening, but the crew’s memories and desires complicate the enquiry. Before the journey into space, the film spends time with the natural world Kelvin is leaving behind. At the station, the effort to understand an unfamiliar form of life becomes entangled with questions about the people who have come to study it.

## Review

[*Solaris*](https://film.one/film/solaris) is moving science fiction, though it asks for more patience than it always needs. Andrei Tarkovsky adapts Stanisław Lem’s novel with Friedrich Gorenstein, sending Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) to a remote station near a planet whose behaviour defeats ordinary explanation. The journey is supposed to bring him closer to understanding another form of life, but human memories and needs keep getting in the way. We recommend it warmly, with a warning about the long philosophical conversations.

The opening on Earth is essential to that journey, even when its length seems hard to account for. Vadim Yusov gives the natural world enough time on screen for us to begin missing it before the film has properly left. We felt homesick during this stretch; the sustained attention to nature makes leaving it seem a considerable loss. Once the station takes over, we keep remembering how much there was to look at outside.

Donatas Banionis makes Kelvin a difficult man to reach, which is useful until it becomes frustrating. His reserve gives the film somewhere to start, but it can also make a conversation feel longer than the thought behind it. Natalya Bondarchuk, as Hari, supplies much of the hurt that keeps the questions about love from becoming an exercise. We believe in the need for another person when she is on screen, even when the dialogue seems determined to turn that need into a discussion.

Vadim Yusov’s images of Solaris are more unsettling than any tidy explanation of the planet would be. They seem unstable under our gaze, making the effort to inspect them part of the unease. Mikhail Romadin’s production design gives the station a sense of human occupation, and the attention to art and objects helps prevent it becoming merely a setting for arguments. The music, credited to Eduard Artemyev and Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, sustains the strangeness without making it feel like a warning before a shock.

The editing by Lyudmila Feiginova and Nina Marcus allows the long takes to establish their own pace, and often the extra time changes what we notice. An image we have understood can still become more disquieting if we are left with it. The philosophical conversations are less consistently rewarding: we sometimes finish considering a question well before the conversation does. Across 167 minutes, those stretches are a real obstacle, particularly when the film seems to be insisting on the seriousness of something its actors have already made clear.

We are used to science fiction rewarding curiosity with a clearer view of how something works. Here the closer attention goes to the people doing the looking, and to their habit of treating an unknown world as something that ought to answer their questions. There is a severity to that view of human beings, but the film’s grief prevents it from becoming smug. Its demands on our attention are substantial. Choose it when there is time to sit with the silences without waiting for the next event.

*Fi1m score 87, published 21 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to Solaris as science fiction concerned with memory, grief and human failings rather than technology. Praise centres on Tarkovsky’s patient visual storytelling, the eerie space imagery and the emotional weight of its questions about love and identity. The reviews repeatedly describe a film that demands close attention but rewards it with lingering unease and passages of tenderness. Its philosophical concerns are widely seen as inseparable from its human ones.

The main division concerns what that patience achieves. Admirers find the length creates space for reflection; even some enthusiastic reviews acknowledge that watching can be a chore. The two mixed assessments retain substantial praise: Time Out admires the camerawork and human enquiry but finds the climax insufficiently rigorous, while Slant Magazine finds affecting passages within a meandering treatment of scientific interference. The spread is broadly positive, with reservations concentrated on pace and narrative discipline.

## Straight answers

**Is Solaris worth watching?**

*Solaris* is worth watching for patient viewers drawn to science fiction about grief and human needs; we score it 87. Its unsettling planetary images and performances make the loneliness felt, but at 167 minutes, the long philosophical conversations sometimes keep explaining what we already understand.

**How long is Solaris, and what is it rated?**

*Solaris* runs 2h 47m. It is a drama and science fiction film.

**Where can I watch Solaris in Spain?**

*Solaris* is not on any streaming or rental service in Spain at the moment. It is available in 4 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How does Solaris compare to Arrival?**

*Solaris* and *Arrival* both make an encounter with the unknown painfully personal, but *Solaris* asks for more patience with silence and philosophical conversation. We favour *Solaris* for its sustained loneliness and unsettling images; *Arrival* is the better choice for first-contact tension, with Amy Adams making its strange ideas feel human.

**Is Solaris based on a true story or a book?**

*Solaris* is adapted from Stanisław Lem’s novel, not a true story, with Andrei Tarkovsky and Friedrich Gorenstein responsible for the adaptation. Knowing the book is not necessary: the film makes its concerns with grief, memory and human needs felt through the performances, even when its philosophical conversations become demanding.

### Reviews we read (14)

- **Little White Lies**, William Carroll (90/100, inferred): The critic hails Tarkovsky’s film as the benchmark for science fiction, praising its exploration of human narcissism, memory and existence through a meditative lens on a remote space station. The piece singles out the film’s visual beauty and philosophical depth, particularly the final shot that opens up questions of reality and belief. [Read](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/solaris-andrei-tarkovsky-greatest-science-fiction-film)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (90/100, inferred): Ebert praises the film as a profound, meditative work that uses length to create an environment for reflection on human nature, memory, and reality rather than conventional entertainment. He singles out the zero-gravity scene with floating candles and characters as a magical centerpiece and highlights the ending's invitation to reconsider the entire narrative. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-solaris-1972)
- **The AV Club**, Scott Tobias (A-): Tarkovsky views space as an abstract realm of consciousness and treats the story more as a ghost story than conventional sci-fi, with spectacular images of the planet that have a trance-like instability. The film is a challenging, difficult sit even by Tarkovsky standards, but its strange ambience lingers. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/solaris-1798168352)
- **Empire**, David Parkinson (70/100, inferred): Tarkovsky’s mesmerising adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s novel is still superior to Steven Soderbergh’s remake. It concentrates on the eerie realisation that there’s nothing more terrifying out in space than our own selves. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/solaris-2-review/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Mark Olsen (70/100, inferred): Olsen sees the re-release of Solaris as an opportunity to appreciate its poetic, metaphysical take on science fiction anew, noting its more graspable story compared to Stalker. He praises its enveloping, overwhelming quality on the big screen and its provocative addition to philosophical sci-fi discussions. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-tarkovsky-stalker-solaris-review-20170518-story.html)
- **The New Yorker**, Alex Ross (70/100, inferred): Ross views Solaris as Tarkovsky's attempt at transcendental science fiction focused on haunted memories and unresolved conflicts rather than space mechanics, calling it transfixing despite the director later deeming it his weakest. He highlights the majestic long takes, philosophical dialogues, and Bach soundtrack as hallmarks. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/15/the-drenching-richness-of-andrei-tarkovsky)
- **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (70/100, inferred): Scott reflects on Tarkovsky's Solaris as a meditation on space, consciousness, memory, and loss, using the sci-fi premise to explore vast human emotions. He appreciates how the film equates individual inner worlds with the universe itself. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/video/movies/1248069602346/critics-picks-solaris.html)
- **Variety**, Variety Staff (70/100, inferred): The review calls Solaris a strange, slow but absorbing parable on life and love in sci-fi guise, effective in its space effects, intense playing, and moral statements about love, life, and humanity. It notes the sentient planet creating hallucinations or manifestations from the crew's needs. [Read](https://variety.com/1971/film/reviews/solyaris-1200422709/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Clayton Dillard (50/100, inferred): Tarkovsky favors thematic and metaphorical suggestion over narrative drive, filling the film with charged objects and allusions to art, nature, mythology, and philosophy that create an overwhelming, eternal resonance. The film renders some affecting passages as bright spots in a meandering attack on scientific tampering with the unknown. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/solaris-1972/)
- **Time Out**, DC (50/100, inferred): The review describes the film as both engrossing and alienating, Tarkovsky’s thoughtful response to 2001: A Space Odyssey that prioritises moral and human concerns over technological spectacle. It praises the wondrous camerawork and solid human enquiry while noting the climax lacks rigour. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/solaris)
- **The Playlist**, Rodrigo Perez (A): The critic calls it arguably Tarkovsky’s most deeply felt story, a simple tale of grief and lost love with sci-fi questions of identity and humanity, highlighting the devastating emotional core and near-transcendent moments like the languid earth-bound opening and stunning zero gravity sequence. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/the-films-of-andrei-tarkovsky-a-retrospective-20110706/2/)
- **Eye for Film**, Tony Sullivan (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a chore requiring careful attention but ultimately rewarding beyond almost any other, praising its massive dignity, eerie beauty, moments like a Brueghel painting coming to life and a weightlessness ballet, and especially its haunting, perfect ending on identity and humanity. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/solaris-1972-film-review-by-tony-sullivan)
- **Collider**, Sean Naughton (85/100, inferred): The critic celebrates Solaris as a cerebral sci-fi classic and direct response to 2001: A Space Odyssey, praising its focus on fully realized characters, deep emotions, grief, and humanity over visual spectacle. It singles out the planet's manifestation of subconscious desires and the film's lasting influence on later works like The Fountain and Inception. [Read](https://collider.com/solaris-andrei-tarkovsky-influential-legacy-explained/)
- **Paste**, Kenneth Lowe (80/100, inferred): The critic describes Solaris as an inward-facing meditation on humanity's inability to move past its failings and its tendency to reshape new worlds in its own image rather than seeking transcendence. It singles out the imperfect recreations of memories (like Hari's dress) and the central question of whether we love the person or their shadow. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/andrei-tarkovsky/solaris-1972-space-age)

## Details

- **Director:** Andrei Tarkovsky
- **Director:** Andrei Tarkovsky
- **Screenplay:** Andrei Tarkovsky, Friedrich Gorenstein
- **Novel:** Stanisław Lem
- **Cinematography:** Vadim Yusov
- **Editor:** Nina Marcus, Lyudmila Feiginova
- **Music:** Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, Eduard Artemyev
- **Production design:** Mikhail Romadin
- **Costume design:** Nelli Fomina
- **Cast:** Natalya Bondarchuk as Hari; Donatas Banionis as Kris Kelvin; Jüri Järvet as Dr. Snaut; Vladislav Dvorzhetsky as Henri Berton; Mykola Hrynko as Kelvin's Father; Anatoly Solonitsyn as Dr. Sartorius; Olga Barnet as Kelvin's Mother; Vitalik Kerdimun as Henri Berton's Son
- **Runtime:** 2h 47m
- **Release (Spain):** 3 January 1979
- **Genres:** Drama, Science Fiction, Mystery
- **Budget:** $1 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBYJH6UAAfw

## Where to watch in Spain

Not streaming, renting or buying in Spain at the last check.

Also available in: CA, GB, IT, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Cannes Film Festival 1972: Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix (won)

## If you liked this

- *La Jetée* (1962): Memory and longing carry a science-fiction story told largely through still photographs.
- *After Life* (1998): A patient, humane enquiry into which memories we would choose to keep.
- *Arrival* (2016), Fi1m 86: Another encounter with the unknown that makes grief an urgent personal concern. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/arrival.md)
- *The Spirit of the Beehive* (1973), Fi1m 87: Quiet rooms, watchful faces and a child’s struggle with what images can mean. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-spirit-of-the-beehive.md)
- *Aniara* (2018): For a harsher account of loneliness aboard a spacecraft, with less consolation.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/solaris-1972