Director Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 science fiction film, Arrival, if you have not seen it, is a must-view film for anyone who loves science fiction that makes one think and deal with important ideas that show true feelings and not of least the acting prowess of the lead actor in this move, Amy Adams. Villeneuve is becoming one of my favorite directors as this film amply displays. The film is based on a novella, by Ted Chiang, entitled “Story of Your Life,” and is adapted admirably to the screen by Eric Heisserer. Besides Amy Adams starring as linguist Louise Banks, Jeremy Renner plays Ian Donnelly, a theoretical physicist. Colonel GT Weber is played by Forest Whitaker with Michael Stuhlbarg as Agent David Halpern, Tzi Ma as General Shang and Mark O’Brien as Captain Marks.
The film begins with a flashback (the movie contains many as a vehicle to explain the backstory) of Louise who is taking care of her teenage daughter who is dying of cancer. Switching back to the present, twelve extraterrestrial spacecrafts have landed in many places scattered on the Earth and Louise is asked by Weber, along with Ian, to help figure out the language the aliens are using and why they have come. Working from a military base in Montana very near one of the spaceships, they make contact with two aliens on the ship who are called heptapods because of their seven limbs. Nicknamed by Ian as Abbott and Costello, Louise manages to find that the aliens have a written language of circular symbols, and decodes them as the symbols correspond to our basic vocabulary. While doing this, Louise begins to see vivid images of her with her daughter.
She is able at this time to ask the extraterrestrials what they want and their response is “offer weapon.” Another translation by another camp is “use weapon” and with the fear of a threat from the aliens, some nations begin to stop communicating with them, while others believe they will attack. Louise, however, begins to think that the symbol is being misinterpreted and quite possibly means “technology.” But regardless, a few soldiers have decided to blow up the spacecraft. Louise and Ian enter the ship to talk to Abbott and Costello again, and receive a more complex message when they are thrown off the ship as it explodes. Unconscious at first, both Louise and Ian wake up as the military evacuates the site, and the spaceship has moved higher above ground. At this point, Ian has figured out that the symbols are more about the concept of time and the message is only 1/12 of the entire gift from them, while it asks that all nations work together to receive it all.
China has decided to attack the ship that’s off its coastline. Louise talks to Costello and is notified that the other alien, Abbott is dying. Asking about her visions of a daughter, it is explained to her that she is actually seeing the future and that the visions are flash forwards and not flashbacks. Louise learns that the sharing of the aliens language is the “weapon” and changes the perception of time while they try to help humanity. In 3000 years, the aliens will need humanity’s help and her ability to see into the future with her “weapon” will be part of that.
While the camp itself is being evacuated, Louise has another vision seeing herself at a future UN reception being congratulated by General Shang for helping in the suspension of the Chinese attack and explains that she called his private cellphone. Seeing its number without knowing why she is viewing it, she realizes she must use call Shang and say the last words his wife said in Mandarin. The Chinese attack is called off and all the countries contact one another as the spacecraft leaves the Earth.
Ian then tells Louise that he loves her. They discuss their life choices and if they should change them if they knew the future. Louise sees that Ian is her daughter Hannah’s father, whose name is an intentional palindrome and heaver her after he discovers that she knew their daughter would die before adulthood. Even though she knows the future, she decides to have a baby knowing full well that her daughter will die before she grows up.
This is a smart well scripted and acted science fiction film that seems to do a good job of answering some huge questions. Not much is wrong with this movie GRADE: 4 of 5 crowns
The other film from last year starring Amy Adams, is Nocturnal Animals, a neo-noir thriller film, directed and written by Tom Ford. It is based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Michael Sheen as well as Amy Adams.
It deals with Susan Morrow , an art gallery owner played by Amy Adams, who gets a manuscript for a novel written by her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (played by Jake Gyllenhaal). An invitation to join him for dinner is included with the manuscript. Her present marriage to Hutton Morrow, played by Armie Hammer, is falling apart and she becomes obsessed with the novel, named after Edward’s nickname for her, Nocturnal Animals.
The film then visually shows the novel Edward has written. The names in the novel have been changed, but deals with the violence that takes place when forced off the road and the wife and daughter are kidnapped and eventually brutally raped and murdered. The main male character in the novel manages to evade the two kidnappers and contacts the local police who discovers the bodies. The Detective (played by Michael Sheen) contacts the main character (Tony) a year later to identify one of the kidnappers, who subsequently is released. The Detective, who is dying of lung cancer then takes matters into his own hands and with Tony’s help, lures the original two kidnappers/murders to the exact same place that Tony’s wife and daughter were killed. The Detective shoots and kills one of them while the other one escapes. Tony manages to find the escapee and fatally shoots him, but not before he is blinded when the escapee hits him with an iron bar. Tony dies of a brain hemorrhage and accidentally shoots himself in the stomach.
The film then continues back into reality where Susan begins to think about meeting Edward in College and their relationship which unfortunately her mother objected to, stating that he was not worthy of Susan’s love and his worldview. She believed he lacked the ambition to achieve his goals; Susan married him anyway. It is here that Susan discovers Hutton’s affair, but she continues to read the manuscript, all the while remembering her troubling marriage to Edward, and her cheating on him with Hutton, who she ultimately married after divorcing Edward. Even though Edward attempted to fix their relationship especially since he learned that Susan was pregnant but had an abortion to make certain the divorce proceeded without a hitch. Susan sees that the novel is actually an allegory for the losses Edward suffered during their separation and the dedication to her was a form of revenge, showing her that he could and did write a successful novel. She decides to meet him, but he does not show up, making it very clear that he did not forgive her for the pain she inflicted on him.
This is my favorite film of 2016. It is a true crime drama with multilayered storytelling along with excellent direction, acting, cinematography, dialog, and editing. Amy Adams scored big last year. GRADE: 5 of 5 crowns
Recent Comments