This
movie is slated to come out on DVD before the Oscars, but I was glad to see it
return to my local theater so I could catch it on the big screen. It’s gripping, well-thought-out sci-fi,
taking an intense look at a less-flashy aspect of first contact and using it to
explore the nature of communication, relationships, and trust (premise
spoilers.)
Louise,
a linguistics professor and well-respected interpreter, arrives at work one
morning to find the entire world has changed:
twelve identical, imposing spaceships have appeared without warning at
different points around the globe, and humanity doesn’t know whether to hold
its breath or tear apart the streets.
Because of her past translation work for the U.S. government, Louise is
recruited for the team charged with making first contact at a ship hanging over
a remote spot in Montana. As Louise
works to find common work between humans and aliens, using two languages that
are entirely different and not mutually known by both parties, tensions rise to
a fever pitch over what intents the aliens might be hiding behind their
seemingly-inscrutable language.
Having
seen the movie, I totally get the sentiment about Amy Adams being snubbed for a
Best Actress nomination. Her Louise
carries the film without a doubt, showing intelligence, ingenuity, strength,
determination, and empathy in the face of overwhelming circumstances – the moments
leading up to her first encounter with the “heptopods” are fantastic, and I
love to see how she immerses herself so completely in understanding these visitors
that many around her are quick to indisputably label as enemies. At the same time, though, I find it
believable that her work here didn’t get recognized by the Academy. While Louise is an extraordinary woman, she
demonstrates it by humbly, tirelessly devoting herself to the task at hand, and
so Adams’s performance is by necessity subtler than many of the nominated
actresses’.
However,
in addition to its Best Picture nomination, the film garnered nods for
directing, writing (Adapted Screenplay, based on a short story,) and
cinematography, and from where I stand, all three are well-deserved. Everything about the aliens and the
first-contact efforts are just so blame
cool and well-thought-out. I like
the piling-on of how utterly different the heptopods are, from their
earthy-looking spaceship to their wild manipulation of gravity to the
incredible care taken in rendering both the vocal and written aspects of their
language (the film also, very rightly, was recognized for production design and
sound editing/mixing.)
I
love the theme of how communication unites or divides us as we let it, how we
fear what we do not understand largely because we can’t grasp its words. This movie depicts a world on the brink –
inches from war, teetering on the edge, everything unrest and fear and paranoia
– over threats it has anticipated rather
than discovered. Louise’s fantastic,
grounding presence, often the lone voice for trying to understand one other
rather than lashing out in fear of the unknown, is so beautifully powerful, a
stunning display of a hand outstretched in potential friendship in the midst of
a world readying itself for attack.
Warnings
Thematic
elements, brief violence, and language.
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