I re-read Solaris last week.
There is a great scene in the book, an interview with a pilot named Berton who “saw things”.
It starts with the pilot’s log, then moves into an interview. And it’s super creepy as we discover what he, a top pilot, saw and the effect it had on him, and the fact that the panel of interviewers think him insane.
While I was still some distance away, I noticed a pale, almost white, object floating on the surface. My first thought was that it was Fechner’s flying-suit, especially as it looked vaguely human in form. I brought the aircraft round sharply, afraid of losing my way and being unable to find the same spot again. The shape, the body, was moving; sometimes it seemed to be standing upright in the trough of the waves. I accelerated and went down so low that the machine bounced gently. I must have hit the crest of a huge wave I was overflying. The body — yes, it was a human body, not an atmosphere-suit — the body was moving.
A giant baby.
On the surface.
Made out of whatever the surface of Solaris is made out of. Slime, I guess.
BERTON: I’ll explain. At first, I couldn’t understand what worried me about it; it was only after a minute or two that I realized: this child was extraordinarily large. Enormous, in fact. Stretched out horizontally, its body rose twelve feet above the surface of the ocean, I swear. I remembered that when I touched the wave, its face was a little higher than mine, even though my cockpit must have been at least ten feet above the ocean.
QUESTION: If it was as big as that, what makes you say it was a child?
BERTON: Because it was a tiny child.
QUESTION: Do you realize, Berton, that your answer doesn’t make sense?
BERTON: On the contrary. I could see its face, and it was a very young child. Besides, its proportions corresponded exactly to the proportions of a child’s body. It was a… babe in arms. No, I exaggerate. It was probably two or three years old. It had black hair and blue eyes — enormous blue eyes! It was naked — completely naked — like a newborn baby. It was wet, or I should say glossy; its skin was shiny. I was shattered. I no longer thought it was a mirage. I could see this child so distinctly. It rose and fell with the waves; but apart from this general motion, it was making other movements, and they were horrible!
It’s yet another example to the reader of Solaris pulling things out of the mind of visitors and presenting it to them.
A character who saw something unbelievable, incomprehensible and is trying to communicate it. In this case to an unbelieving panel.
This:
Do you realize, Berton, that your answer doesn’t make sense?
I love it.
It reminds of of the movie adaptation of Annihilation.
Unlike the books, the movie has scenes of the biologist (Lena) being interviewed about her experience on the other side of the border. The lead interviewer (interrogator?) is played by Benedict Wong, and he’s great.
The scenes are so very good. Filled with dread.
Here’s a screenshot from one of the scenes:
I could not find the scenes in the screenplay, so I transcribed some parts of some of the scenes to give a flavour.
From the opening Interrogation Scene:
INTERROGATOR: What did you eat? You had rations for two weeks, you were inside for nearly two months.
LENA: I don’t remember eating.
INTERROGATOR: How long do you think you were inside?
LENA: Days. Maybe Weeks.
…
From the ending Interrogation Scene:
INTERROGATOR: So it was alien?
LENA: …
INTERROGATOR: Can you describe its form?
LENA: No.
INTERROGATOR: Was it carbon based, or…?
LENA: I don’t know.
INTERROGATOR: What did it want?
LENA: I don’t think it wanted anything.
…
I love it.
What did it want? and I don’t think it wanted anything.
Perfect.
It’s a great device. The interview, with the subject that experienced the incomprehensible on one side and the curious or incredulous on the other.
I believe it was also used in Contact. At least the movie, I don’t recall the interview at the end of the book.
Here’s a still of Ellie (Jodie Foster) giving her testimony:
From the screenplay:
SENATOR: You were in the machine for seven minutes, thirty-five seconds, is that correct, Doctor?
ELLIE: Earth time, yes.
SENATOR: (pausing) Earth time.
And later:
CHAIRMAN: (pausing) Dr. Arroway, do you think it’s possible you had some kind of… delusional episode.
ELLIE: Is it possible…?
CHAIRMAN: All the elements are there. A woman, orphaned young, under a great deal of stress. The failure of a project she’s staked her self-worth and very sense of identity on– induces a fantasy of reuniting with her ‘father in heaven’ as it were. Is it possible?
KITZ: Please answer the question, Doctor.
ELLIE: (a long silence) Is it possible. Yes. But–
Just great.
Not the same dread, but the frustration we feel, knowing what she saw was “real” and knowing that no matter what she says, the panel will not believe her.