On the second attempt we made it through Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris. It's not that it was a bad movie, (there is much to be said for it, or rather, said for its parts); it's just that it was very very slow. Three hours of slow moving, inexplicable strangeness. I had to fight off sleep each time we watched it (I lost the first time, needed green tea for the second). By movie's end I felt no clearer about what went on in the preceding three hours.

I have a soft spot for the inexplicable. I like weird stories, movies, things that don't make sense. Pondering this movie, I felt that it did a good job inculcating that feeling of wonder that children must experience daily. When their world views aren't yet set and their explanatory powers can't account for the various details of this world. Solaris made this point, but only this morning do I realize what it meant. I like falling back into a state where I can't even pretend to understand. It's why I like Murakami novels, Borges short stories or magic-realism in general. I lack a sense of the Cosmic (paraphrasing the movie).

Maybe the movie was better than I realized last night. I don't really recommend it, though it has its moments, but maybe it did its job.