Arrival

[Ryan Farnes]

combatentropy's line here resonated with me:

So in Arrival a language can give you superpowers

I walked away from the film with a furrowed brow wondering, is this what this language did? And now she is teaching people a class and wrote a book about learning this language and now everyone will be able to see the future or something? It's kind of a weird concept.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the film. Well, except for the farcical right-wing caricatures sprinkled throughout. FXGuide's VFXPodcast had one of the regulars make a great point about how implausible it was that a military operation of this magnitude would involve a young soldier in a leadership position on site that was capable of completely going rogue outside the chain of command and trying to attack the UFO.

 

[Chris Johnston]

I walked away from the film with a furrowed brow wondering, is this what this language did? And now she is teaching people a class and wrote a book about learning this language and now everyone will be able to see the future or something? It's kind of a weird concept.

I sort of thought the same thing (a little) when I went with my wife to see it. Something inside me was unsettled so I went to see it again a couple days later by myself. I should say that I've spent about 20 years of my adult life in many different countries so I sort of understood the different language thing. (although I would say different "cultures" think about things differently, not so much different languages.) The movie was OK in my book, not really great, just OK. But.... I was still curious why it resonated with me. I bought the book of short stories he wrote. Finally ended up buying the dvd. On the extras section of the dvd there is a segment about Time and how memory works and our perception of time that I found very interesting. (especially 4:45-7:00)

https://youtu.be/FQ3kAd8vm2A

 

[Guest]

I don't know if I already commented about this film, haven't gone through the thread again yet.

In an inteveriew, Denis Villenueve said that he was approached with the script early on, and he turned it down, or tried to turn it down, because he didn't know how to depict the concepts in the story. Writing about a language and sounds and aliens is a bit easier to be vague in a book or short story, but in a film things are different.

Anyway, they reworked the script and eventually got Denis Villenueve on board.


I say that, because I think we forget that directing is a job for most people. Directors get scripts and ideas pitched at them, and while they eventually have to "choose" the idea, it may not be something they completely wanted to do, but was just something to do. It is work.

This movie from the beginning was working up against a very difficult premise to make a film about. In the book or script, the alien language can be described in vague ways, left to the imagination of the reader, but in a film, you have to show it. So, now the film makers are tasked with the challenge of creating a written Lange to show in the film. And the aliens now they have to create those too. And then, go back to the fact that the whole story is asking the viewer to just go with it, like a super hero film might, and that is a big undertaking for anyone. ...and yet, I think they pulled it off.

Time travel and future predictions and alternated time lines, always leave a portion of the audience disappointed. But I think films like Arrival or Terminator 2 don't dwell long enough on it, and for a moment, the viewer can just go along for the ride. In Terminator 2 it was the action, but in Arrival, it was the mood and ambience. The sound track in Arrival was particularly good. Very sad that composer passed away.

The other aspect, Denis Villenueve was wanting to work with Roger Deakins on that film, and ended up going with Bradford Young. The DP/Director relationship is very important, and I believe it effects the film a great deal. I will say, even though I have my issues with some aspects of the cinematography in Arrival, I have a hard time imagining it being done better. I think the mood and the darkness help lull the viewer into a trance.

 

[combatentropy]

it may not be something they completely wanted to do, but was just something to do. It is work.

a good reminder

The sound track in Arrival was particularly good. Very sad that composer passed away.

Johann Johannsson did pass away in 2018, but a prominent track in the film is by Max Richter (thereby disqualifying the film for the award for best music). On the Nature of Daylight is from Richter's 2004 album, The Blue Notebooks, and has actually been used in several films.