Steven Soderbergh is re-make man; able to produce stylish re-interpretations of obscure old films in a single bound, able to deflect fears of art house obscurity by the gratuitous use of Julia Roberts cleavage or George Clooney's backside and making sure that there is always a good soundtrack to be purchased at the end of it all.
Solaris at first looks like a huge departure for a director who seems rooted in reality based films such as Erin Brockovich and Traffic. Even Oceans Eleven seems grounded when compared to it's friends in the genre, such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. However a sole mention of Higgs bosons and glimpses of an oversized lava lamp that we are meant to believe is a planet is as close as the film gets to science; fiction, fantasy or otherwise.
Instead the film revolves around a tale of loss, regret and questioned reality as well toned psychiatrist Clooney encounters his dead wife on a spaceship orbiting a distant planet and wonders whether this might be heaven, hell or possibly even necrophilia. To say the story is loosely drawn is an understatement, it doesn't so much progress as dissolve into a puddle from which it is hard to pull out anything of certainty. This plot puddle means you can't put your finger on the philosophical issues raised by the film, the "what would you do?"s that empathy poses. Instead they just seem to waft around your fingers.
Such ambiguity is the films strength. Thanks to an ambient electronic soundtrack that is guaranteed to halve your heartbeat the film seems to progress in a beauteous slow motion that entrances and hypnotizes you with a mood never punctuated by clunky plot points.
The film could easily be tagged "Contact meets 2001 with an Aphex Twin re-mix" however Solaris lacks the saccaharine emotional manipulation of the Jodie Foster film and the arse-numbing length of Kubrick's masterpiece. The ending may try to resolve too much, but as the artistic version of relaxation tank, Solaris stimulates, satisfies and succeeds for those who like to leave their faculties engaged when entering the cinema.