Divergent Takes on a Science-Fiction Visionary.
Perhaps the best-known film adaptations of Lem, the Polish science-fiction author, are the two versions of ‘Solaris’ — one from 1972, a brooding, glacially paced philosophical meditation by Andrei Tarkovsky, and Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 remake, a concise, poetic recapitulation of the same themes. But both were actually late to the punch. Anthology Film Archives will also show the rare ‘Solyaris’ (Sunday), from 1968, shot in black-and-white for Russian TV. This survey of Lem on screen, through Nov. 11, also includes the half-animated ‘The Congress’ (Sunday and Nov. 11), from 2013, directed by Ari Folman (‘Waltz With Bashir’). It concerns an aging actress (Robin Wright) who agrees to have her likeness digitally archived for future use.
