Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The Visitor is solidly good.

The last shot--the sound of drumbeat and the image of the middle aged, balding man in an incongruous suit playing a drum on an empty subway platform even as trains clatter by….Unnerving.

Unfortunately, I watched this in bits, the way I usually catch movies on telly—at dinner, after my walk, so bits and pieces really. Missed the entire beginning sequence.Yet.

A story about immigration, racism, political asylum. Good humans in a bad place. Yet simple, neat, no frayed edges.Matter of fact. If you’re an illegal resident, you can get thrown out for traveling ticketless, picked off the street and poof…No matter if your plea for political asylum has been turned down, or you’d be killed the moment you reach your land.

Not at a grand level, but at a you-and-me level.The other world infringing on a straight jacketed, standard-issue life. Not much of sound and fury about this one.

Brilliant acting by Richard Jenkins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGjjx3WMmSE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Visitor_(2008_film)

12 comments:

Tamanna said...

Another one for the list :)

Leni Qinan said...

It looks like an interesting film with a lot to think about.

PQ said...

"You can live your whole life and never know who you are until you see the world through the eyes of others" -- thats a really beautiful quote...looks to be an interesting movie

Tal Krawetzky said...

Very impressive and interesting blog!

I would like to invite you to join WWW.COLLARBAR.COM where you can publish your articles on thousands of domains all over the Internet on any topic you choose completely for free.

Moreover, you can earn money. Every time your article is shown to the surfers in Internet - we add a Google AdSense ad with it. The income from that ad goes right to the author. Take a look at the following example: www.eyesurgerylasik.org . This is one of the thousands of our portals. Every ad you see there brings an income to authors.

Sign up and we will be glad to assist you.

Welcome!
CollarBar.com

AmitL said...

Nice review, Austy..is it based in the US of A or UK?
---
But,yes- 'Unnverving'---that word puts me off...just can't bring myself to watch anything serious these days...u know why.

ricercar said...

interesting subjects. the last play i saw scared me of for a while. it still haunts me http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/any-given-day-traverse-theatre-edinburgh-1994028.html

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the link, I looked at the wiki-article. I have not visited the movies for a long time ...

austere said...

63 mago- I watched this on telly. Sometimes you get good programs. I went to a cinema hall last in Dec, the next day we met that superstar...
ricer- this was taut and haunting-- I can only imagine what watching it must be like...
Amit- US! After that recent law that they're putting in place in Arizona, where you can be asked for your papers anywhere at all-- so real
Why? Didn't get. You aren't an immigrant?
Collarbar- thanks for the nice words-- will think abt it.

PQ- beautiful and relevant...did you read abt that list of illegals in UT and Az that was sent to the media?

Leni- v sensitively made.

Tamanna- oh yes.

AmitL said...

haha...sure,an immigrant.But,I don't see anything serious these days-too much stress in real life already.So,movies and serials are strictly to take the mind off problems.:)

Anonymous said...

"And the rockets' red glare,
The bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there."

Just sayin ... :)

Anonymous said...

Indian writers love Bombay says the BBC.

austere said...

mago-yep, not as many books abt Delhi, or even Cal. Delhi has Dalrymple and that Vikas Swarup book. Namesake, sort of Cal.