Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney and Natascha McElhone come together to give their answers to the question "What is Solaris." Although the only thing truly clear at the end of it all is there are no answers, only choices, this footage provides a rare and intimate glimpse into the dogmas of the three stars of the Solaris system.

Steven Soderbergh, whose eclectic resume includes the Academy Award-winning drama “Traffic” as well as last year’s ensemble caper “Ocean’s Eleven,” now brings his unique vision to SOLARIS, a sci fi mystery which tells the story of love lost and re-found.

Set sometime in the future, the film begins when Dr. Chris Kelvin is asked to investigate the unexplained behavior of key scientists on the space station Prometheus and to discover why they have cut off all communication with Earth.

Kelvin undertakes the journey after watching the last communiqué from his close friend Gibarian, the mission’s commander. Transmitted six months earlier, the disjointed video journal shows a clearly disillusioned and despairing man. Keenly aware that his opinion will decide the fate of the orbital station, Kelvin is shocked by what he finds upon his arrival.

Gibarian has committed suicide and the two remaining scientists are exhibiting signs of extreme stress and terror, seemingly caused by the results of their examination of the planet Solaris. As he begins to track down the reasons for the distress aboard the Prometheus, Kelvin, too, falls victim to the unique world’s mysteries, as well as an erotic obsession with someone he thought he left behind.

George Clooney stars as Chris Kelvin a grief therapist who has yet to reconcile with himself over he loss of his wife; Natascha McElhone portrays his wife, Rheya, whose untimely death two years before has left Kelvin bereft and in a state of emotional isolation; Jeremy Davies and Viola Davis are scientists aboard the space station desperately trying to discover the secret of Solaris before it destroys them all, and German actor Ulrich Tukur is Gibarian, the mission com-mander of the ill-fated Prometheus.

Written for the screen and directed, photographed and edited by Steven Soderbergh, SOLARIS is a new adaptation of the science-fiction novel by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem. The novel was first filmed in 1972 as a Russian production directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.

Solaris

No one knows what it wants.
No one knows what it means.
No one knows why it’s there.

Yet all are drawn to it.
To some it brings great joy.
To others it causes great pain.

Now, one man has been sent to uncover the mystery.
What is Solaris? You decide.

Released: 28 Feb 2003
Dist: 20th Century Fox
Running Time: tbc
Cert: tbc