Environmentalism is the political and philosophical position that the health of the natural world should be an item of social concern(CITE). Environmentalism relates to conservationism, the belief that natural resources should be treated carefully so as to produce the greatest benefit, and preservationism, the belief that untrammeled nature has inherent value, whether ecological, aesthetic, or spiritual, and therefore that some landscapes should be left undeveloped. (CITE)
Within the history of the Soviet Union, Environmentalism is remembered as being of little to no importance to the communist regime, but this was not always the case. The belligerent disregard for the environment was a trait only associated with Jopsef Stalin and not from the Marxist routed ideas alone. In fact, Karl Marx firmly believed in the importance of nature and its relationship with humankind. Marx writes “Man lives on nature--means that nature is his body, with which he must remain in continuous interchange if he is not to die. That man's physical and spiritual life is linked to nature means simply that nature is linked to itself, for man is a part of nature.” (CITE). The long-understood conclusion is that the environment was dismissed in the founding ideas of the communist party when in reality the early-era Soviet Union was a global leader in conservationist and preservationist practices. The dramatic switch in this practice arose when Josef Stalin rose to power in 1922. Stalin’s iron fist Solaris is a 1972 science fiction film by Andrei Tarkovsky. …show more content…
This is one of only two of Tarkovsky’s films to not take place in the Soviet Union. His Nostalghia (1983) takes place in Italy, and Solaris takes place mostly on an interstellar space station orbiting the titular planet. The decision for Tarkovsky to explore a film set in outer space has ties into the Cold War-era tensions between the United States and the USSR. Stanely Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was released only five years before Solaris and is the most ground breaking cinematic work to bring the galaxy to movie theaters since Georges Méliès’ 1902 film A Trip to the Moon. The success of 2001 inspired Tarkovsky to take a risk a set a film in space while rivaling the psychological journey of Kubrick’s film. Another reason for Tarkovsky’s interest in space as a setting for a film is the political space race between the US and the USSR. Both countries had their eyes turned to the sky as the Soviets had launched the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik, just 15 years earlier, and the American’s had placed the first man on the moon a mere three years prior. This political push towards outer space both scientifically and cinematically, seemed appropriate that Tarkovsky would respond to Kubrick’s work with his own dramatic interpretation of our solar system. Tarkovsky’s Solaris comments on the issue of environmentalism plaguing the USSR at the time. In all of Tarkovsky’s films, including Solaris, he displays numerous extensive shots of vibrant nature scenes which send a message about the importance of the natural world around us and the negative impact that deprivation of nature has on humans. The opening scene of the film is of grass swaying in the ripples of pond water, a leaf then floats by while the camera pans out to reveal the protagonist Kris Kelvin standing among the vegetation and the pond. Tarkovsky slowly introduces more aspects of human industrialization, we start with pure nature, then revealing human life, a horse gallops by wearing reins, a comment on man’s hierarchy over other aspects of the natural world. We are slowly introduced to more within the scene, a lake house and then the first telling sign of human industry, a concrete bridge with a car on top of it from which several other characters emerge. This carful progression between unadulterated nature and the layering of human impact and involvement in the world sets the tone for the entire film. One of the most infamous scenes in the entire film is a progression of shots starting from one character in a car building to hundreds of cars on intertwining highways and driving through tunnels. This scene is accompanied with uneasy audio tracks, flashing light, and darkening filter colors which plunge the sequence into darker and darker
Within the history of the Soviet Union, Environmentalism is remembered as being of little to no importance to the communist regime, but this was not always the case. The belligerent disregard for the environment was a trait only associated with Jopsef Stalin and not from the Marxist routed ideas alone. In fact, Karl Marx firmly believed in the importance of nature and its relationship with humankind. Marx writes “Man lives on nature--means that nature is his body, with which he must remain in continuous interchange if he is not to die. That man's physical and spiritual life is linked to nature means simply that nature is linked to itself, for man is a part of nature.” (CITE). The long-understood conclusion is that the environment was dismissed in the founding ideas of the communist party when in reality the early-era Soviet Union was a global leader in conservationist and preservationist practices. The dramatic switch in this practice arose when Josef Stalin rose to power in 1922. Stalin’s iron fist Solaris is a 1972 science fiction film by Andrei Tarkovsky. …show more content…
This is one of only two of Tarkovsky’s films to not take place in the Soviet Union. His Nostalghia (1983) takes place in Italy, and Solaris takes place mostly on an interstellar space station orbiting the titular planet. The decision for Tarkovsky to explore a film set in outer space has ties into the Cold War-era tensions between the United States and the USSR. Stanely Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was released only five years before Solaris and is the most ground breaking cinematic work to bring the galaxy to movie theaters since Georges Méliès’ 1902 film A Trip to the Moon. The success of 2001 inspired Tarkovsky to take a risk a set a film in space while rivaling the psychological journey of Kubrick’s film. Another reason for Tarkovsky’s interest in space as a setting for a film is the political space race between the US and the USSR. Both countries had their eyes turned to the sky as the Soviets had launched the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik, just 15 years earlier, and the American’s had placed the first man on the moon a mere three years prior. This political push towards outer space both scientifically and cinematically, seemed appropriate that Tarkovsky would respond to Kubrick’s work with his own dramatic interpretation of our solar system. Tarkovsky’s Solaris comments on the issue of environmentalism plaguing the USSR at the time. In all of Tarkovsky’s films, including Solaris, he displays numerous extensive shots of vibrant nature scenes which send a message about the importance of the natural world around us and the negative impact that deprivation of nature has on humans. The opening scene of the film is of grass swaying in the ripples of pond water, a leaf then floats by while the camera pans out to reveal the protagonist Kris Kelvin standing among the vegetation and the pond. Tarkovsky slowly introduces more aspects of human industrialization, we start with pure nature, then revealing human life, a horse gallops by wearing reins, a comment on man’s hierarchy over other aspects of the natural world. We are slowly introduced to more within the scene, a lake house and then the first telling sign of human industry, a concrete bridge with a car on top of it from which several other characters emerge. This carful progression between unadulterated nature and the layering of human impact and involvement in the world sets the tone for the entire film. One of the most infamous scenes in the entire film is a progression of shots starting from one character in a car building to hundreds of cars on intertwining highways and driving through tunnels. This scene is accompanied with uneasy audio tracks, flashing light, and darkening filter colors which plunge the sequence into darker and darker