VIDEO PRODIGAL SUN.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

``I could tell you what's happening, but I don't know if that tells you what's happening.'' That's what a technician named Snow (Jeremy Davies) on the space station Prometheus orbiting the strange planet of Solaris tells a psychiatrist (George Clooney) who has been sent to investigate the weird goings-on among the crew. Call it truth in advertising.

Director Steven Soderbergh is nothing if not enigmatic. A remake of the classic Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972 and based on Polish sci-fi writer Stanislaw Lem's 1961 novel, this ``Solaris'' - like its predecessor - is not a razzle-dazzle ``Star Wars'' kids flick but one that addresses the big questions: life and death and love and the great beyond.

Why Clooney's character, Chris Kelvin, who has been mourning the suicide of his wife, Rheya (Natascha McElhone) for a number of years, has been sent to investigate is that the crew has been seeing things - companions. For Snow it's his dead brother, and soon Rheya appears for Chris.

He knows she can't be real, but after a while, does it matter? There are suggestions that she's not, but Chris needs to work out some unfinished business in his marriage. There's a ``2001'' coolness to the proceedings, but Soderbergh has other things in mind. Since his breakthrough film, ``sex, lies and videotape,'' he has dealt with characters contained within themselves but who are vulnerable underneath, ready to break down.

Clooney is the perfect sort of actor for the role. He usually plays a character who keeps his cards close to the vest; so when he does deliver emotionally - as here - it has an impact.

Whether ``Solaris'' pays off will depend on you. Soderbergh, one of Hollywood's best and smartest filmmakers, has kept the film open-ended. ``Solaris'' was co-produced by James Cameron and is well-crafted and always visually interesting. It didn't do well at the box office, but that's because most audiences are looking for action and special effects in their sci-fi fare. ``Solaris,'' instead, wants to make you think, which may work better in the quiet of your home.

`Solaris'' (Fox) lists for $27.90 on DVD and includes commentary by Steven Soderbergh and James Cameron.

`American' beauty

Michael Caine received a best actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Thomas Fowler, a cynical British journalist hiding from an unhappy marriage in the war-torn Saigon of the early 1950s in ``The Quiet American.''

In the adaptation of Graham Greene's novel by director Philip Noyce, Fowler would rather idle away time with his mistress, the gorgeous former taxi dancer Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen), rather than concern himself with the French colonial powers' attempt to put down the mostly communist-led insurgency in Vietnam.

It's only the threat of being returned to England by his newspaper and the appearance of a mysterious American diplomat - Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), who has an interest in Phuong - that prompts Fowler to look for the story that would keep him Saigon. He gets more than he bargains for.

Unable to get a divorce from his Roman Catholic wife, the journalist lies about the marriage to Phuong. When she finds out the truth, she turns her attention to Pyle, who has already passionately declared his interest in her. Meanwhile, trying to get his precious scoop, Fowler ventures out to the camp of a noncommunist rebel group. There he finds Pyle, supposedly bringing medical aid, but Fowler suspects differently. Pyle, of course, is a CIA spy, who despite an almost inept appearance is anything but.

The triangle functions as a metaphor for the situation. Fowler is disaffected, distanced (though he's lived in Vietnam for years, he hasn't learned much about the country), and he's not as smart about what's going as he smugly believes (old Europe thinking, as Washington might say today). Pyle actually cares about what happens in the country and can speak Vietnamese, but despite his competence (he's proficient with arms), he has an underlying naivete about the people and the situation (American overconfidence, as old Europe might say).

Phuong is the country they both love, but not for the right reasons. Neither see her for what she is. For Fowler, she's an exotic spice to be enjoyed. Pyle sees beauty, too, but he thinks she can be Americanized, like Vietnam.

The story begins with Pyle's murder and then flashes back. This well-acted, moody meditation takes on added poignancy now as American soldiers die during the occupancy of Iraq. Pyle is not a cartoon American monster, especially as portrayed by Fraser. He is someone trying to do what he believes is the right thing, even if misguided. It's something Fowler has avoided doing.

But as the journalist is told by a Vietnamese rebel, ``Sooner or later ... one has to take sides, if one is to remain human.''

``The Quiet American'' (Miramax) lists for $29.99 on DVD and includes commentary by Noyce, Caine and Fraser.

Under the radar 

If you haven't had your fill of big, loud, overblown films in theaters this summer, then you can go home and watch ``Daredevil,'' starring Ben Affleck as the blind superhero.

A lawyer (Matt Murdock) by day and a red-costumed crime fighter by night, our Daredevil has to - like most comic-book studs - overcome some bad history (his dad was a boxer/mob enforcer who was killed for refusing to throw a fight) and has girl troubles. In this case it's in the very nice form of Elektra (Jennifer Garner), who loves the charming Matt but hates Daredevil, who she mistakenly blames for killing her father. The martial-arts-trained Elektra then takes on her own secret identity, which means she cozies up to Matt by day and tries to kick the you-know-what out of him at night.

Affleck never seems to quite fill out the superhero outfit, and Garner is basically the same sexy armed spy she plays in her TV series, ``Alias.'' However, Colin Farrell, as the shaved-head assassin Bullseye, gives the film the craziness it needs. But, alas, Farrell is only a supporting player, and the film - written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson - needs more than a Bullseye to prop it up.

``Daredevil'' (Fox) lists for $29.90 on DVD and includes commentary by Johnson, Garner's screen test, three music videos and the ``Men Without Fear: Creating Daredevil'' documentary.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) GEORGE CLOONEY and NATASHA McELHONE in ``Solaris''

(2) MICHAEL CAINE in ``The Quiet American''

(3) BEN AFFLECK in ``Daredevil''