Arrival is a film that I think I have watched just the single time. I remember wanting to watch this film in the cinema upon its release. I did. It has never left me since that day. I can remember only one other film that I have felt that way about, and I didn't have the money to do it back then. That other film was The Matrix.
I recently upgraded my TV to a 65" (all the better for playing PS5 games on) - but I haven't really sat down and watched any real theatrical movies or cinema on it. Arrival is the first of many.
It's a wonderful tale about a mother, a linguist, and a series of extra terrestrial objects. It is the story that sticks with you.
Right from the opening, its colour grading, its soundtrack, the banality of a child dying of cancer is all broadcast with a deep blue hue of sadness; before we move to "getting on with life"; and "the day they arrived".
"They" is a series of 12 craft that have dotted themselves around the world. It's aliens, but no one is saying it is Aliens. Our perspective follows that the Americans, investigating the craft that has landed in Montana.
We follow Louise Banks (Amy Adams), who is the foremost expert in languages at a university. She's recruited into helping investigate the "Arrival".
What follows is a visual extravaganza of discovery. It is slow. It is methodical. It is mysterious. While the world goes mad wondering what these "things" are; a group of academics is immersed in the puzzle of their lives; trying to figure out sequences of sound and shape to come into direct communication with the creatures that have emerged.
Throughout the film, we're met with touching moments of memory in the past of our starring linguist. Tender, sensitive moments of a life that was. These touching moments of past inform us how each event in our life shapes how we perceive and understand the next.
It is only at the half way point that we start to get to the guts of the story. It builds and builds; and you really need to watch the film for yourself to understand.
Every scene has purpose. Every line of dialogue is intentional. Each shot is interesting and poignant. It's a crescendo of a cymbal that resonates on and on.
I love this film, and the director Denis Villeneuve quickly becomes the reason why. I watched the Dune film because he was responsible for Arrival. I would have watched that film then tracked down his past work and watched Arrival anyway.
The pacing of Arrival grows momentum as the film nears its conclusion. It's a wonderful sense of urgency that grows suspense, and gives you shivers and hope all at once.
An incredible story. Masterfully told. This uses all the best elements of cinema and writing and combines them together so powerful that you feel perplexed and intellectually incapable of interpreting the dense and beautiful subtext.
If you haven't, go watch this film. I watched it in 4K with 5.1 surround sound in the comfort of my home, but you don't need to do that. Watch it with an intellectual, with a friend, gathered around a smartphone or tablet with a broken screen. I don't care how you watch it. Just do. It will change your opinion on what makes a "good" film. This is a masterpiece.
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