Thursday, December 5, 2002

More Solaris Driver 8 posts positive comments about Solaris in response to Maxine's negative review. And Charly Z gets it mostly right. The best special effect is no effect at all: it's the human face. These are not over-kill, they're maps to be read for the emotions they graph. So maybe this is what the movie is about: emotions. The gloomminess on Clooney's scientist, the existential fear on McElhone's visitor, etc. No matter how high-tech we get, our greatest drive as a species is emotional, not rational. QED. The best science fiction is usually character driven, with the SFnal stuff there to cast the emotions and reactions that we are all familiar in sharp relief. That is why the camera spends so much time on Clooney's face: his feelings are the center of the story. Without a constant referral to human reactions to Solaris, there is no story (admittedly, why Clooney's ass is there, I don't know). 2001 and Solaris are each half of a conversation about man in a profoundly alien environment. The Kubrick film is about a rational quest: Man using his machines to approach the unknown, and in the end, using his rationality to move beyond the limits of the tools. Solaris is about an journey undertaken for emotional reasons. Clooney faces the unknown because of friendship and love, not out of scientific curiosity. Kubirck spends a lot of camera time on the technology: long, lingering shots of Discovery, the rotating space station, and the pods. When the unknown is first confronted--the monolith on the moon--the men are hidden inside of space suits and surrounded by blinding lights. Clooney first confronts the question of Solaris in a video clip from a friend. Dave Bowman is an astronaut, most likely trained as an engineer or scientist, an explorer. Chris Kelvin is a psychologist, a therapist in fact and he is obviously at least slightly uncomfortable outside of his familiar surroundings. I love 2001. It is on my very short list of great films. And I think that Solaris approaches it in quality and vision. 8:37:43 PM    comment []trackback []

International Public Support for War Wanes From The Guardian's website: Bush fails to win over sceptical Europeans Poll on war with Iraq shows France, Germany and Russia opposed, UK divided Sizeable majorities in Britain, France, Germany and Russia thought that Iraq represented a great or moderate threat. In Britain, 75% of those asked said that Saddam Hussein "must be removed", compared with 75% of the Germans 63% of the French, and 42% of the Russians. However, when asked if President Saddam should be removed by force, 71% said no in Germany, 64% in France and 79% in Russia. In Britain 47% said no, and 47% yes - more proof, if any were needed, that the country is deeply split on the prospect of war. By contrast, 62% of Americans favoured a war and only 26% opposed it, suggesting that the Bush administration has for the time being succeeded in stopping the erosion in American public support for a new Gulf war. 6:34:28 AM    comment []trackback []