Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972): A Film Discussion on Mystery and Memory

Discussion moved a week later by popular request.

Tarkovsky's speculative visions enfold the mysteries of death and rebirth, the lost paradise of childhood, the power of art to define identity, and the menace of science as destructive vanity. (Richard Brody at the New Yorker)

Solaris is a workshop for a discussion of human identity. It considers not only how we relate to others, but how we relate to our ideas of others--so that a completely phony, non-human replica of a dead wife can inspire the same feelings that the wife herself once did. (Roger Ebert)

You can watch the movie here.

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We all seek meaning in our lives and dread futility. Philosophy doesn't provide facile answers, but the philosophical quest to make sense of our fleeting lives is one that we all share.

This group will explore possible answers by looking at a mixture of approaches. Not only philosophical writing, but also literature, history, poetry and films.

The organizer is not an expert in any of these writers but has a long experience in organizing similar meetings. He also has an Oxford PhD in European History as well as a Cambridge MPhil on the same discipline. He currently teaches foreign languages.