Arrival

Director Denis Villeneuve’s new science fiction film Arrival bears minor resemblance to other alien invasion movies – smart ones like District 9, dumb ones like Independence Day and its sequel, and even cheesy ones like great 80s TV miniseries V. Like all of those, Arrival begins with massive alien space craft appearing suddenly over seemingly random spots all across the earth. The shell-shaped ships loom there in the sky as earthlings collectively work themselves into cosmic-sized fit of losing their junk.

However, giant ships ominously hanging in the air above terrified human kind is pretty much where the comparisons between Arrival and other aliens-come-to-earth movies end. Rather than a big, dumb collection of explosions and slobbery monsters piloting flying saucers, Arrival is an extraordinarily quiet, contemplative meditation on the haziness of language and the excruciating balance in life between joy and pain. This was not directed by Michael Bay and does not star Will Smith, friends.

Amy Adams plays Dr. Louise Banks, a brilliant linguist, called upon to help the military communicate with the aliens in the ship that hangs over a wide, startlingly picturesque valley in Montana. Along with Ian Donnelly, a theoretical physicist played by Jeremy Renner, Banks regularly ascends into the 1500 foot tall craft to have one-on-one chat sessions with a pair of giant aliens they nickname Abbot and Costello who resemble a cross between a whale, an elephant, a squid, and my freaking nightmares. The aliens stay behind a glass partition and are largely swathed in the gray, smoky clouds of their atmosphere. They fade in and out of sight, becoming unclear as Banks and Donnelly try to find a common linguistic ground to somehow make their intentions more clear.

Clouds and mist and fog are recurring visual themes throughout the movie and serve as a symbol for how difficult it is to be really clear about what we mean when we speak. The script of the film highlights the cloudiness of human language and points out how confused aliens might be if we tried to explain the difference between say, a tool and a weapon. As Banks and Donnelly try to build common ground inside the ship, the echo chamber of the 24 hour news cycle in the outside world stokes fear and panic as people wonder week after week, what are the aliens in these giant ships going to do? Why are they here? The two scientists work desperately to communicate as world militaries begin to gather and get antsy.

While there are very superficial similarities to movies like Independence Day and of course, any film featuring towering black structures from space also references 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film Arrival most resembles is 1986’s The Sacrifice, the last film of the great Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. Like Arrival, The Sacrifice features a protagonist who knows what’s coming in the future, knows that there’s pain ahead, but chooses that path anyway.  In its stillness, how it portrays people reacting to what they think is an apocalyptic situation, and in how the main character makes a choice to sacrifice something in exchange for the greater good, I can’t help but think that director Villeneuve had to have watched Tarkovsky’s final masterpiece in prepping for Arrival.

Adams and Renner are both fine actors, and I appreciate that the script doesn’t succumb to the cliché of having the gruff military leaders berate the egghead scientists only to be proven wrong in the end. The scientists’ military contact is played by Forrest Whittaker who always brings a dignity and seriousness to his roles. In fact, Arrival doesn’t fall victim to many clichés at all. With a complicated but ultimately rewarding script, understated and believable performances, and cinematography that is as lovely and carefully thought-out as anything I’ve seen on a movie screen in a long while, it takes what could be very familiar territory and makes something thought-provoking and worthwhile.