I’ll be honest, I’m usually against the idea of showing anything approaching explicit sexuality on screen. I could give a long explanation for why but basically it usually boils down to how male gazey sex scenes usually are, the ethics of having actors perform explicit scenes, and the social and cultural implications of increased exposure to sexual intimacy from which the viewer is physically removed. While I can’t say this movie completely escaped all these issues and the other I…

In our search for truth all we find is knowledge  and the reality that all that truly matters to ultimately unknowable. We can only see with our own eyes yet all attempts to see take us anywhere but the mirror. No one gazed at the watery surface of Solaris where they would only see their own reflection, they gaze at their guests with a refusal to acknowledge that the guests are themselves. They are their own worst fear and greatest…

I reading the novel this movie is based on as a sophomore in high school and being blown away that writing so hauntingly beautiful could exist. Despite my love of the filmic arts I spent a long time thinking there was no way they could possibly do Remarque’s words justice. The 2022 adaptation proved me wrong. This original adaptation proved me wrong once again. 
Lewis Milestone’s imagery is as stunning as Remarque’s prose both in its humanity and its…