Solaris
( aka 'Солярис' and 'Solyaris')
directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
USSR 1972
"The eventual
conflict of the film deals with Kelvin's scientific understanding and his
emotional conscious, sub-conscious and repressed memories in the guise of his
7-year deceased wife whose form has returned to him by the unknown intelligence.
His past is reflected in relived sequences with his wife and mother. Tarkovsky's
greatest ability is how he transforms the mood and setting through imagery and
unspoken words. It appears so subtle that the closest thing I could compare it
to is hypnosis. His use of positioning within the frame reminds me of Kurosawa,
but his use of cinema as an instrument of art is without match. Every scene is a
well thought cerebral experience for the viewer."
Excerpt
from Gary Tooze's RusCiCo 'Solaris' Review found HERE
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DVD Comparison:
20th Century Fox (Italy) - Region 0 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC
Big thanks to Paolo Pardo for the PAL Screen Caps!
DVD Box
Cover
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Distribution | 20th Century Fox (Italy) - Region Free - PAL | Criterion Collection, spine #164 |
Runtime | 2:39:40 | 2:46:35 |
Video | Aspect
ratio: 2.30:1 Anamorphic Average Bitrate: 8.14 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
Aspect
ratio: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Average Bitrate: 5.53 mb/s ( interviews disc 6.98 mb/s ) NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s |
"Solaris"
20th Century Fox (PAL) NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
"Solaris" Criterion Disc#1
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Bitrate:
"Solaris" Criterion Disc#2 Interviews disc |
20th Century Fox (Italy) - Left Criterion - Right
Audio | Russian, Italian. Both in Dolby Digital 5.1 (The first 40' of the film is in Russian only since it replaces the original Italian edition which had various cuts) and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0. | Russian (Dolby Digital 1.0) |
Subtitles | Italian and none | English, None |
Features |
Release Information:
Release information: Studio: General Video Recording
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.30:1
Edition Details:
Bonus Materials:
• Interactive animated menus • film analysis by critic Enrico Ghezzi (15') • Biography and filmography of director Andrey Tarkovsky • multi-angle comparison between original and restored footage (10').
DVD Release Date:
May 22nd, 2001
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Release Information:
Studio: Home Vision Entertainment
• New and improved English subtitle translation
Video interviews with: • Natalya Bondarchuk (32:20) • Cinematographer Vadim Yusov (33:54) • Art director Mikhail Romadin (16:46)
• Composer Eduard Artemyev (21:43)
DVD Release Date:
November 26th, 2002 2 Discs |
Comments: |
The Italian version is very well done but has some flaws. The colors are saturated and appear even more-so next to the soft palette of the Criterion. It is also less sharp. The Italian PAL version is cropped slightly reducing the aspect ratio from 2.35 -> 2.30. Fox changed the mono soundtrack to 5.1. It is not accurate and they don't offer the ability to choose the original mono, which for Tarkovsky true fans is a big no-no. Compared to the other two Solaris DVD releases that we did previously (RusCiCo and Artificial Eye), I think this Italian version is better than both of those, meaning it is more like the Criterion although still miles away from it. I won't bother going into the Extras as the Criterion is the King, but the Italian does give a commentary (in Italian only). - Gary W. Tooze |
20 Century Fox - PAL | Criterion |
Extra Menus - 20th Century Fox LEFT - Disc 2 Criterion - RIGHT
Film Screen Captures
20th
Century Fox (Italy) - Top
Criterion
- Bottom
20th Century Fox (Italy) - Top Criterion - Bottom
20th Century Fox (Italy) - Top Criterion - Bottom
20th Century Fox (Italy) - Top Criterion - Bottom
20th Century Fox (Italy) - Top Criterion - Bottom
20th Century Fox (Italy) - Top Criterion - Bottom
20th Century Fox (Italy) - Top Criterion - Bottom
Report Card:
Image: |
Criterion |
Sound: |
Criterion |
Extras: | Criterion |
Menu: | Criterion |