Solaris

I recently saw Steven Soderberg's film Solaris again. It's not a great movie as a whole, but what's fantastic about it is that no one is fooled by the contructs. Even the contructs know they're not "real." No one is stupid and thinks they're something they're not. Yet the characters are human and can not help themselves but relate irrationally and emotionally.

Here is an excerpt from the screenplay where psychologist Kelvin is talking to his dead wife. He is fully aware Rheya's gone and this thing laying on his chest is a construct. She hasn't discovered she's not "real" yet. He's trying to keep some emotional distance, but she innocently thinks she's Rheya and pushes his resistance like a familiar lover:

Rheya: I don't actually remember anything. I only remember you. Have I been ill?
Kelvin: Sort of.
Rheya: And we've been apart?
Kelvin: Yes.
Rheya: For how long?
Kelvin: A few years.
Rheya: Were you alone?
Kelvin: Yes.
Rheya: Was that difficult?
Kelvin: It was easier than being with someone else.


Once Rheya discovers she's a product of Solaris, she relates to it like God:

"It created me. And yet I can't communicate with it. It must hear me, though. It must know what's happening to me."

In this way, the film is really beautiful.