Natalya Bondarchuk gives the difficult questions in Solaris a human urgency that the dialogue sometimes lacks. Her work as Hari is the strongest reason for our regard: she makes the need for another person painful and believable.
Fi1m perspective
In Solaris (1972), Natalya Bondarchuk's Hari responds to a Bruegel print with a growing awareness that is painful to watch. There is anguish in that response; understanding more does not seem to make anything easier for her. We were moved by Hari's need for another person, because the hurt in her performance remains believable even when the dialogue grows cumbersome. Andrei Tarkovsky asks us to think at length, but Bondarchuk gives us a reason to care while we do.
Donatas Banionis, as Kelvin, is a useful partner precisely because his reserve can be frustrating. He is difficult to reach, and Bondarchuk makes the need for closeness matter without requiring us to find him easy company. The contrast keeps their conversations from becoming wholly abstract. There are limits to what she can do with them, though: the philosophical dialogue sometimes explains feelings she has already made clear. We would rather be allowed to stay with her reaction than have its significance discussed again.
After Hari brought her international notice, Bondarchuk continued in Soviet literary and historical adaptations, playing Mariya Volkonskaya in The Captivating Star of Happiness (1975) and Madame de Rênal in Red and Black (1976). The move into directing began with Living Rainbow (1982), followed by Bambi's Childhood (1985), in which she also played Bambi's mother. On Pushkin: The Last Duel (2006), she took on directing, writing, producing and the lead role. That film has drawn criticism for historical and conceptual distortions; admiration for Hari is no reason to overlook those objections.
Our regard for the actor rests most firmly on Hari. Bondarchuk lets us follow the character's increasing awareness without losing sight of how much it hurts. The performance holds our attention when the writing starts to insist on its own importance, although it cannot prevent those passages from dragging. Start with Solaris, with patience for the talk and attention to the person it sometimes talks over.
Biography
Natalya Bondarchuk is a Soviet and Russian actress and film director. Born on 10 May 1950 in Moscow, she is the daughter of actor and director Sergei Bondarchuk and actress Inna Makarova.
She graduated from the acting school of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in 1971 and from its directing school in 1975. Her film debut came in 1969 in By the Lake. She is best known for playing Hari in Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972).
Bondarchuk has appeared in other films including You and Me (1971), The Captivating Star of Happiness (1975) and Red and Black (1976). She has also worked as a director and received the title of Merited Artist in 1977. She is married to actor Nikolai Burlyayev.
