Coluna Claquete – November 28, 2016 – Movie of the Week: “The Arrival”
Newton Ramalho
colunaclaquete@gmail.com – www.colunaclaquete.blogspot.com– @colunaclaquete
Movie of the Week: “The Arrival”
Whenever people ask me what is my favorite director, I answer that I do not have anyone, because each film should be analyzed individually. But I must confess that this conviction was shaken with Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, whose films always have surprised me positively, as is the recent case of “The Arrival”.
Nowadays achieve an original idea, especially in the science fiction genre, it is very difficult. “The Arrival” brings something new to the genre, mainly by escaping the common-place of most blockbusters productions, seeking a deeper story and a message aligned to the needs of today’s world.
In the story, the world is shocked to find that twelve alien ships appeared out of nowhere and pulled in different parts of the world. Without showing agressive or other nature intention, the ships simply hover a few meters above the ground, as if awaiting the initiative of humans.
Each country where hangs a ship, take their efforts to make contact with the newcomers. But their language seems incomprehensible, and the tension mounts among the civilian population.
The linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is sought by Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) to help them in contact with the ship in the American space. Scientist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) is also called to work together, each in his specialty.
The first contact is a shock to Louise, used to the peaceful academic environment, and now exposed to an incomprehensible universe, strange even for experienced scientists.
The deadlock is broken when she seeks an approach using written language, and in response to words in English, she receives several extremely complex circular symbols, which will be the key to communication.
In addition to the difficult task with the aliens, Louise still lives a personal tragedy, and the world seems to be heading in maddened way for an interplanetary war. The main question still remains unanswered: Who are the aliens and what they came to do on earth?
In order for a movie to be good, besides a good director and a good screenwriter, there must be a good story as the basis for everything. In the case of this film, the idea came from a science fiction short story written by Ted Chiang in 1998, “The story of your life”.Although working since 1989, the author of the collection has written about fifteen stories.The number seems small, but the writer has won a lot of awards, including the desired Nebula and Hugo Awards (four of each).
In the specific case of “The Arrival” and the original story, the interesting handling of information about language, the nature of time, and humanity is what makes the story (and the film) two treasures.
Villeneuve had the merit of carrying to the cinematic language the essence of the original story. Previous works of the director already demonstrated this brilliance, and among all, I highlight the fantastic “Incendies” (2010), that I always recommend to all movie lovers.
“The Arrival” is very well done from a technical point of view, with a well-constructed script, a perfect edition that leads to a surprising end, all this with the beautiful photography of Bradford Young, highlighting the beautiful locations in the Canadian province of Québec.
It is possible that viewers accustomed to the space-opera will not enjoy the slower pace of “The Arrival”. However, I believe that those who like films that lead to a good discussion will be happy with this gem of the Seventh Art.
Original title: “Arrival”