Once the "rain subsides and after drying off", Chris goes to the living room to meet with Burton. Burton shares with Chris and his family a video recording of a commission meeting that investigated an incident involving Burton. The footage dates back many years, revealing a youthful Burton who had been a pilot on the Solaris mission.
During the incident Burton seemed to have suffered some sort of strange hallucinations while flying over Solaris ocean before landing on the space station.
Following Burton's testimony before the commission committee, it seems that his claims were not taken seriously. The effects of Solaris seem to be subjective and challenging to substantiate scientifically. Burton described hallucinations involving a giant human child, approximately four meters tall, emerging from the ocean. Although Burton recorded the episode on video, nothing substantial was captured, highlighting that the experience was purely psychological and lacked any physical evidence.
The commission questioned Burton about whether he had seen the child before. He responded that he had never seen the child previously. However, later revelations indicate that the child was actually the son of a member of the mission and that similar incidents had been reported over the years.
In the end, the commission concluded that Burton's experiences were likely hallucinations caused by the unusual landscape or fatigue. The video footage clearly shows committee members placing a cart with bottles of alcohol behind Burton, seemingly to ridicule him over the entire incident. Burton himself recalls that from that point onward, he was no longer taken seriously.
Later, Burton privately discusses this incident with Kris. He is convinced of the mission's immense value for humanity and strives to persuade Chris of its importance and the need to carry out the investigation with ethical integrity. However, Chris, determined not to be swayed by anyone, reacts somewhat rudely towards Burton, who feels offended and abruptly leaves the house without further explanation.
The moments spent at the home of Chris's father in this scene are pivotal for grasping the film's essence. Chris's fundamental struggle appears rooted in his inability to truly leave behind his childhood residence. Internally, somehow Chris remains a child dwelling within the confines of his youthful home.
This commission investigating past events involving hallucinations of a gigantic child seems to metaphorically reflect Burton's inability to move beyond his childhood, despite being an adult. This struggle is not unique to Burton; many other characters in the movie, Chris included, experience similar challenges. Solaris reveals the extent to which each character has managed to develop their inner child to adulthood.
In fact, Kris is the only character who, despite being unable to fully mature his inner child into a complete adult, has achieved some level of development. This partial growth allows him to maintain an adult relationship to a certain extent, setting him apart from the others.
Take Burton, as an example. He arrives at the house accompanied by a kid and when Burton abruptly leaves the house, Chris's father pointedly asks if he plans to take the kid with him or leave him behind, highlighting Burton's immature behavior.
This will become a recurring symbol throughout the entire movie. There are five people in the movie who have been in contact with The Ocean in Solaris: three are accompanied by children, and one by a dwarf man. Only Kris is accompanied by a young woman. Additionally, the kid who accompanies Burton, is afraid of the horse kept in the stable—a fear that gains significance later in the film, as the horse becomes an important symbol once they are on Solaris.
In these initial scenes, it's also worth noting the significance of various elements in the house, as they will be mirrored on Solaris. For example, the lake will transform into the ocean, and the trees into a piece of paper glued to the air duct to simulate the sound of leaves. Ultimately, this house represents the place Kris has never truly left—mentally, he still resides there. Solaris uses this mental setting to interact with Kris, reflecting his inability to move beyond his childhood home.
Before leaving the house, Kris burns some of his old belongings, further reinforcing the idea expressed in the lines before. However, his father, who has remarried, assures him that the room will remain as it was, with the rest of his belongings intact.
Interestingly, Kris strives to progress towards personal liberation from his childhood. This is evident when he casts his old belongings into the fire. Yet, not everything meets the flames. Strangely enough, the photograph of his former lover is something that he does choose to burn.
As revealed later in the film, Kris's lover took her own life using poison that Kris himself had left in her apartment. This tragic event underscores the conflict Kris felt between his love for her and his immature, unresolved self, which remained attached to the past. This internal struggle sabotaged their relationship, creating an untenable situation from which Kris fled, ultimately leaving the poison behind for her to use.
In some not fully conscious way, Kris knows this and overcoming it has become the main mission of his life. Once on the space station, Chris faces the critical decision of whether to abort the mission. His personal mission, therefore, is to determine whether the mission should be aborted, but is this a mission in the service of humanity or his own mission as an individual.
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