[Movie] Arrival (Close encounters of the Linguistics Kind)

[TyrianFC]

The first half of the OP is spoiler free - but subsequent posts in the thread may contain spoilers.

Summary: This movie is so fucking good. Once the dust settles, it'll be destined to be a sci-fi classic. It's smart sci-fi for the thinking viewer.



I just got back from seeing Arrival. For several weeks leading up to its release it was sitting at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (with over 80 reviews) and has now 'dropped' to 96% with 155 reviews. While we always joke about rotten tomatoes 'getting it right/wrong', seeing such strong critical acclaim definitely gets you curious to see what all the fuss is about.

And if you love your sci/fi, the trailers suggest a film about 12 alien ships arriving and the worldwide reactions of the aftermath, and we all all know how other films in this genre traditionally go.. right? (eg Independence Day - there will be lots of explosions, cringe worthy cliches, terrible acting, glorious destruction-porn, big dramatic set pieces, kick some major alien ass etc)

And that is most certainly not what Arrival delivers, it's the complete opposite (so it's not surprisingly being referred to as "Anti-Independence Day" by viewers/reviewers... and it' so wonderfully refreshing to say and experience that for a film in this genre. We need more smart sci fi films.

I think the film could be very disappointing/confusing/frustrating to anyone who walks in and was expecting (or wanting) Independance Day. And i'm sure there will be a few, because the marketing / trailers etc could easily imply people are going to get some sort of thrill ride that typically comes with this genre.

The film may be frustrating to viewers that don't like a slow-burner, which it definitely is.

The best way to describe the film, in non-spoiler terms, is a beautiful and poignant slowburning emotive crescendo - which will resonate with you long after leaving the cinema.

Since leaving the cinema i've been thinking about it nonstop, trying to make sense of it all - and the only real way to do that is simply to have a repeat viewing tomorrow. The second viewing will be in a completely different light.

Its definitely a film to avoid spoilers for, so if you're curious to see it and wondering whether it'll be any good, whether it'll be "Just another alien arrival/invasion film" - stop reading - and go see it before you taint the experience of seeing it by finding out too much.

--

Spoilers part of post


Alright, who guessed the twist or saw it coming? The big revelation that Louises 'memories of her past' were actually 'visions of her future', because she now sees time as non-linear just like the Heptapods.

That, during the events of the film, shed never had a child or was married, she never was in post-grief depression after losing her daughter to cancer. That the opening scenes of the film, with her giving birth->living with->losing her daughter, was in fact a flash-forward and occurred years after the events of the film itself.

That the daughter scenes happen in the future, well after the events of the film.

A little bit like the film "The Sixth Sense" - which you could rewatch and view in an entirely different light when you know the ending: hes actually dead the whole time. You can rewatch this film and the second time will be very different: when you know which scenes fit where chronologically.

And that the unknown 'science guy' father she references occasionally when conversing with the daughter, is actually the same guy she went on the mission with and whom audience has already met.

The scene regarding Louise and her daughter having a show called, "Mummy and Daddy talk to animals" and the daughter presents a picture of what we assumed was just their family on the first viewing. Maybe with a pet or something, I didnt notice the bottom half of the image on first viewing. But looking more carefully on the second, its actually a picture of mum/dad and.... a bird in a cage.

So midway through the film the audience has basically already been told the ending. The picture 'Mummy and daddy talking to animals' - a picture of Louise (mum)/dad/bird in a cage. Its Louise and her science-guy mission partner, together with a canary in a cage, talking 'to the animals' (or more accurately - the Heptapods).

On first viewing this wouldnt make sense, because the audience is assuming that when the scene is shown its another 'flashbackmemory of the past' of her dead daughter - but its actually set in the future well after the film - when her daughter was doing a presentation at school essentially of the events transpiring during the film itself.


--

The "Louise meets with General Shang" scene is pivotal and I couldnt remember the exact wording after my first viewing, so I wrote it down during my second. This is how it went

General Shang comments how Louise reached out and called him on his private number.
Louise: "I dont know your private number"
General Shang leans over and shows Louise her phone with his private number displayed.
Shang: "Now you know. I do not claim to know how your mind works, but I believe it was important for you to see that."
Louise: "I called you, didnt I?"
Shang: "Yes, you did".
Shang: "I will never forget what you said".
Louise looks at him seemingly confused/unaware what hes referring to. Shang leans in to whisper in her ear.
Shang: "You told me my wifes dying words".

So this is a paradox in the film. Louise, during the events of the film, is dialling a phone number and saying something that she doesnt actually know or find out until some time later in the future. And, later in the future during that ball scene: Shang, for unknown and unexplained reasons - even to him - feels that its important to show Louise his private number and tell her his wifes dying words, allowing her past self (during the film) to peer into the future and use what she eventually learns in the future to affect present day events during the film.

Enough to make your head explode!

Anyone else want to try and give their take to succinctly explain what is happening in this scene?

[Gallahadd]

Huh... Funny thing, I went to see Doctor Strange last week and they played a trailer for this. I leaned over to a friend after and muttered "Another lame ID4-a-like, SKIPPED", she laughed and agreed.

but after reading the non-spoiler part of your post, I might just have to give this a second look. I've been craving some smart Sci Fi, haven't really seen anything to really make me think since Another Earth in 2011.

[TyrianFC]

Huh... Funny thing, I went to see Doctor Strange last week and they played a trailer for this. I leaned over to a friend after and muttered "Another lame ID4-a-like, SKIPPED", she laughed and agreed.

but after reading the non-spoiler part of your post, I might just have to give this a second look. I've been craving some smart Sci Fi, haven't really seen anything to really make me think since Another Earth in 2011.

Yeah its pretty much anti-Independence Day, and more along the lines of smarter sci-fi (Contact, Interstellar etc), which may or may not be what people are expecting (or will appreciate).

With that said, there will definitely be people who leave the cinema confused / frustrated - because the film wasnt what they were expecting - and wont make much sense unless they were paying attention.

Minor Spoiler to convey how different Arrival is to Independence Day / District 9 / War of the Worlds / most other alien arrival films:

There is NO action in the film.
There's only one small explosion in the film - and it lasts about 1 second before the camera cuts away.

[minteK917]

Its far better than anything that came out of cinema this year. The story and Amy Adams killed it.

I was only kinda expecting the twist a little when started talking about languages with no chronological order. There was still surprise in the last 10 minutes for me, like who was her husband that left her, i just love how it went full circle with the scene of him picking up the baby and than giving it back. I didnt remember we saw the father in that scene. I mean we only saw his arm, but my memory blocked it out lol.

Theres another thing that i found weird same as Shang, at the start Ian says he read her book, but we now know shes written it in the future or did she write that book in the past, but with knowledge of the future lol

Been a while since we had actually good scifi. Im glad a french Canadian can represent good movie making. The rep is real. I hope the movie does good, the cinema was packed here, but its a biased cinema because its in Quebec and its a Dennis Villeneuve movie. Studios needs to be encouraged to pick up smart movies like this, one that has a women lead not for pandering reasons i might add.

[TyrianFC]

I think they were different books. One was written in the past, presumably during her career as a linguistic academic (which he quoted to her on the plane). The other book is the 'translating heptapod' one, which she writes in the future.

The aliens true purpose coming to earth was to give humans the gift of their language (weapon), allowing us to see time as non-linear like they do. perhaps to unite humanity - that part is left to our imagination - but regardless it will become relevant 3000 years later when the heptapods need help in return. And Louise writing that book to share that knowledge, fulfils the purpose of their arrival.

[King Shark]

Not reading any of the spoiler tags, but I kind of figured it wasn't going to be that type of movie anyway, of which I am glad. You've confirmed my justification to go see it. Now to convince the missus.

[Deleted]

really want to see this, but going to wait for Blu-ray release.
For me going to the cinema is all about the destruction eye candy and sound, This film from what I have read and seen is much more like 2001, and my current home cinema is more than enough to watch it on.

[Berengil]

Jeez, that sounds ... boring. I of course didn't at all think it was something like ID, which was serious barf. But that is just...

twist twist twist twist twist = please look how smart we are ( the filmmakers, I mean)

I haven't seen a scifi film in a loooooong time that wasn't mindlessly stupid ( like ID) or overly complex and preachy.

[minteK917]

I wouldnt say its preachy its more natural than say inception.

[Shadowferal]

After the scene where the aliens supposedly gave a weapon of knowledge, and a certain icon's meaning, I figured out...well, lets just say I figured out who the little girl's father was in those...um..."flashbacks"
And the part when the Russian translator was killed after sending a transmission; "There's no time. Must use weapon." Three words that I knew to be in the wrong context. "Weapon" was already noted. But "No time" made me think it should have been in brackets because I thought that it wasn't what anyone would normally think....time is illusory..so my thought was that time was meaningless..."No time" = time is nonexistent

[cjywest]

TyrianFC,
Curious on your thoughts on why the husband left Louise and her daughter? Does it matter?

[TyrianFC]

Spoilers etc

TyrianFC,
Curious on your thoughts on why the husband left Louise and her daughter? Does it matter?

Yeah it matters because one of the key questions the film asks is, "If you knew your whole life in advance, would you want or try to change anything?". And Louise makes a decision that may differ from the audience/father, and the whole film has been built up to tell us why she made the decision she did.

This is answered quite clearly by the film by a scene in the middle (but took me two viewings to understand more clearly - since I missed some key lines the first time)

Exact dialogue from the scene where Hannah and Louise are talking about the father (whom we find out later is Jeremy Renner, but that hasn't been explicitly revealed to the audience by this point)

Daughter: (referring to father) "He doesnt look at me the same way you do"
Louise: "Its my fault. I told him something he wasnt ready to hear."
Daughter: "What?"
Louise: "Believe it or not, I know something thats going to happen. I cant explain how I know, I just do. And when I told your daddy he got really mad and said I made the wrong choice.
Daughter: "What is going to happen?"
Louise: "It has to do with a really rare disease and its unstoppable."

During my first viewing I was confused by what Louise meant by 'made the wrong choice'. What choice?

Well...The 'choice/s' Louise made was asked to the audience at the end of the film:

- "Do you want to make a baby?"
- (paraphrasing)"If you knew how your life was going to live out, would you still live it anyway?"

In the very final scenes we see a beautiful montage sequence of Louise and Ian having the baby, a young family, Louise playing with the child, living life, being happy and sharing tender moments etc. The montage is there to basically convey again to the audience that, irregardless of the immense pain and grief we see at the start of the film - their lives were still filled with happiness and beauty along the way.

Thus Louise made the choice that everything she knew about her life - the good , the bad, and the ugly - was still a life worth living.

Yes, the child will get cancer and die young and there will be immense grief and pain - reflected in the opening scenes - but there were moments of happiness and beauty along the way (reaffirmed in most of the 'flashbacks' culminating in the montage at the end) which still made it all worth it.

At the end of the film, Louise explicitly asks Jeremy Renner if he knew how his life was going to turn out, would he do it anyway/change anything etc. He gave a wishy washy answer. The quoted scene above shows that he had a very understandable human reaction, which is: If you knew your kid was going to die and your life would be filled with pain, why would you want to have that child? Why wouldnt you want to change your life? Coming from a scientist, who didnt understand Heptapod nor the nonlinear way of viewing time - its a pretty understandable reaction. He got angry (presumably confused and frustrated as well) and left. I can imagine him asking "why would you allow this to happen if you knew in advance", "Why didnt you try to change it?" etc etc

So the father left Louise and her daughter because he thought she made the wrong choice, and that choice was to live the life she saw mapped out already. (aka do nothing , not try to change it) - and accept the good / bad / ugly that came along with it.

Jeremy Renners character couldnt have foreseen all the moments of beauty and love that Louise did in that montage, all he probably saw coming was an ominous vision of a child that was going to die after Louise told him - and like this information would do to any of us - it scared the shit out of him / made him angry that she allowed it to happen etc.

Hence the line, "He [daddy] doesnt look at me the same way you do."

[Kokolums]

Saw this film because the reviews were so good. Wow this was an awful film. The actors from amy adams to jeremy renner were wooden. There were plenty of scenes for either one to really emote and just.... nothing. The plot felt too derivative of contact (1999) & paled in comparison. I dont know what the reviewers liked but i was actually close to just walking out.

[TyrianFC]

Saw this film because the reviews were so good. Wow this was an awful film. The actors from amy adams to jeremy renner were wooden. There were plenty of scenes for either one to really emote and just.... nothing. The plot felt too derivative of contact (1999) & paled in comparison. I dont know what the reviewers liked but i was actually close to just walking out.

I saw a few people walk out each of the times i've seen it. Mostly towards the end, minutes before the big final reveals. I reckoned its people who simply didnt think the films slowburn was going to go anywhere and gave up. And had a friend saw it who told me he was 'expecting more action' when he went to see a 'film about aliens arriving', which is understandable and mentioned in the op.

Difference of opinion covers most of what you said - except calling amy adams performance as 'wooden' in this. Thats just a bizarre thing to say for anyone whos seen the film (whether they liked it or not). It was anything but.

[Kokolums]

I saw a few people walk out each of the times i've seen it. Mostly towards the end, minutes before the big final reveals. I reckoned its people who simply didnt think the films slowburn was going to go anywhere and gave up. And had a friend saw it who told me he was 'expecting more action' when he went to see a 'film about aliens arriving', which is understandable and mentioned in the op.

Difference of opinion covers most of what you said - except calling amy adams performance as 'wooden' in this. Thats just a bizarre thing to say for anyone whos seen the film (whether they liked it or not). It was anything but.

Honestly i see people put more emotion into complaining about their lunch than amy adams did when dealing with her issues with her child.

[Bill Nye the Spy]

My best movie of the year so far I can safely say.



I figured out the twist half way, maybe a little bit before, through the movie. They kept showing Amy adams characters hand after they showed her hands in the first scene with the wedding ring, and I noticed she didn't have it on anymore.

Basically was confirmed to me when her daughter asks her about science, and she says she should talk to her father if she wants to know about science.

Very beautiful movie and I highly recommend it, just don't go in thinking it's gonna be an independence day(thank fuck it isn't).

It's also a slow burn film, so if you like having shit happening quickly its not for you.

The new Blader Runner is in great hands, considering I've loved every movie Denis Villeneuve has directed since "Prisoners". He never ceases to impress me.

[Shadowferal]

Honestly i see people put more emotion into complaining about their lunch than amy adams did when dealing with her issues with her child.

This is a thinking person's movie.
So think; her issues with her child didn't exist...yet. So how much emotion was she going to have?

[Tradewind]

Best Sci-Fi movie in at least 30 years.

Denis Villeneuve is a goddamn genius. I cannot wait until Blade Runner...and now, Dune.

[Deleted]

Saw "the twist" coming about half way through, it was an interesting film up until then, really didn't enjoy the ending though.

Shame.

[Revik]

But the real question is ... Is choice real or is it an illusion? Is there possibly a different outcome to even be had? Or are we just cogs within the wheel of the universe?

That being said I didn't like how there was a ??? something wonderful happens step?. Everything is mostly OK but I feel there are inherent issues with the premise.