Someone rightly said, “Beauty lies in simplicity.”
But I wonder, “So does horror.”
Review by Nafees Ahmed
Denis Villeneuve can create a gradual foreplay of horror from the simple scenes. Be it a lawyer reading the will to the kids of Nawal Marwan in his most accomplished film Incendies (2010); or a SWAT raid on Cartel house in Sicario (2015); or A man attending an erotic show that culminates strangely in Enemy (2013). Likewise, we see linguistic professor Dr. Lousie Banks (Amy Adams) perturbed to see the scanty students in class. The tension creeps in when the class is interrupted by a student’s phone ringing. Nothing substantial happens, except that there is a gradual progression of uneasiness in the student’s reaction.
Mr. Villeneuve keeps the camera still at a wide angle, capturing the entire class from the front of the board. He doesn’t believe in explicitly showing what’s happening around. It is not until the other student’s cell phone goes off that the class of 6 students grapples with the horror that something unusual is going on. Mr. Villeneuve impeccably captures the organic shift in tension from the expressions of the students and Louise Banks. While we hear the news in the background, all this time, the camera stays still. That is the beauty of Denis’s immaculate sense of capturing the emotions and his prolific direction.
Neither do the Aliens come in some fancy spacecrafts nor do the extraterrestrials arrive ‘only’ in the United States. Neither the military attacks them, considering them a threat, nor do we see bombing and shooting. And no hero is saving mankind from Aliens. Arrival breaks all the stereotypical clichés Hollywood has been dishing out in the name ofthe Alien genre to impress Uncle Sam. Arrival is anti-“Independence Day”.
Arrival is the same as the sci-fi ‘extra-terrestrial’ genre, what ‘Primer’ was to the Time Machine genre. It is simple, humane, accessible, and it captures the arousing tension with the tangible sense of fear. Cinematographer Bradford Young renders tactile visuals to make even the simplest green field look astonishingly scary. While composer Johann Johannon provides a necessary tensile composition that is unnerving at times.
Arrival, on its surface level, explores the untouched but significant area of initiating the communication understood by both, while the basic & puzzling concept of life and death is examined subtly. Louise is brought in for the purpose. The narrative strength lies in the ambiguity of (mis) understanding the language. Sometimes it terrifies you, sometimes it astonishes you. Eventually, we surrender ourselves to Louise to interpret for us. While Louise herself relies heavily on intuition and spontaneity. It is the sublime performance of confident Amy Adams that predominantly makes the character of Louise so relatable.
The screenplay of Arrival is quite restrained. It sharply draws the line, not stepping into the full-blown science fiction zone. While the drama unfolds in quite a leisurely manner, the underlying theme of political tension, military bureaucracy, personal grief, and looming danger to mankind keeps the tension up. Villeneuve strikes a master-stroke in its third act that will leave you flabbergasted. It will make you think if a film really needs a twisted end to be called smart, or if you can be fooled more simply. Take a bow, Denis Villeneuve.
Review by Kalpit Tandon
A blanket of clouds flows like water over mountains, covering the landscape as far as eyes can go. The greens of the surroundings are damped to a shade darker, and the blue sky is cut in half with a black spherical shell. The first contact of the Aliens with mankind in Arrival stands tall as a monumental artistic vision that drips with beauty in this cinematic achievement of Denis Villeneuve.
It happens like it actually will, no amplification, and as real as it can get. Twelve spacecraft descend on Earth at twelve different locations, and in the United States quest to understand their purpose, we meet a linguist, Dr. Louis (Amy Adams), and a physicist, Ian (Jeremy Renner). What follows is a diversion of time, language, and intentions spiced with political undertones, which sounds apt and relevant in current times. Relying solely on intellect, Arrival, during its complete run time, never for a moment takes support from rehashed action sequences or redundant plot escapes that have tired this genre.
Denis Villeneuve has always been atmosphere-driven. He enveloped the world in an amber tint in his massively underwatched Enemy, played with bright lights of Mexico in Sicario. And now with Arrival, he drenches the scenes in rich tonal variations to amplify various moods in the narrative. Add this with some awe-inspiring cinematography and a rousing background score, and you have a delight for both eyes and ears.
Arrival is a heady beast. It builds up with a progressive increase in intensity while delivering a stunning science-heavy third act and wraps it in a clean foil of emotions. It transcends the barriers of time and memories while leaving you awed by the sheer ambition and wisdom it has up its sleeves. Visually stunning and intellectually rich, Arrival is one of the most accomplished and layered science fiction films of this decade.
