Science fiction has always been a weird genre (to me, at least). Just the title of the genre evokes thoughts of rockets soaring into outer space, extraterrestrial landings, alien life, space emergencies, and stuff like that. A lot of movies ignore the actual science and thought that goes into the mind-bending reality of space and atmosphere. (Think: Every single children's sci-fi movie and random TV shows.)
Only a few movies actually talk about the science and then proceed to show how all those rules of physics and space can be broken or manipulated. (Think Interstellar, Inception, all things Christopher Nolan.) I like the parts about the physics and math that go on behind the rocket launching and space exploration—I feel like a real nerd saying this, but the theory just sounds much more interesting. I’m not a fan of the outer space stuff. The visuals are stellar, but that’s about all that appeals to me. Imagine witnessing a huge expanse of chalkboards with a ton of integrals and random proofs and equations about gravity and acceleration. Nothing's constant. Everything's changing, and these people have to figure out the numbers and data behind it to even get something to go outside the atmosphere and come back safely. It's this thought-provoking stuff I like about sci-fi movies, but it's really limited in most films.
Then there's Arrival. It feels timeless and deep. The sci-fi stuff remains on Earth. It’s just as much about the protagonist as it is plot (which was amazing). The film is about Amy Adams, a linguistics professor, who has to help with communicating with a mysterious alien ship that landed on Earth. She’s always in her own world, in her own thoughts. She lives alone in a large lake house. She doesn’t even learn about the alien landing until one of her students tells her to turn the TV on and watch the news. Then she gets called to help with the issue. She’s stubborn and witty enough to be able to get the job, but her methods make her superiors question if she’s capable of doing the job. The only person who honestly understood her was Ian, a theoretical physicist that worked alongside her. He provided the minimal comic relief in the film.
I really appreciated the fact that these characters were human, rather than some super brave beings that are extremely courageous and willing to sacrifice themselves to aliens for the sake of humanity. These characters had apprehension, vulnerability, fear, love, and a normal amount of bravery inside them for people who were viewing aliens for the first time.
The film felt stunning and aesthetic. Each shot was laid out perfectly with clean, neutral, boring tones. (Somehow, boring seems like the best word to describe the visual feel of the film.) I liked it very much. People that aren’t all that interested in the idea of linguistics or unconventional-looking aliens (imagine some jointy, inky squids with knuckles) might not be all that more impressed with the color palette of the film. It would just make it more uninteresting I guess.
Arrival did have some great points. Language is messy. Any language can be messy. Words don’t hold the same meaning or weight to everyone. Chances are a good thing. Not everyone learns the same way. Blah blah blah. Nice stuff in a cool way. But there were a few things left lingering at the end. How is she able to see the future? Does she decide to change the future? (I have many more nerdy questions, but those are out of personal curiosity rather than actual plot fringe, if that’s even a thing.) Moving on!
Arrival starts out with scenes from what we are to believe is Amy’s past. (The twist in the movie is related exactly to this: What her visions actually were.) Throughout the movie, we learn more about Amy’s daughter through these visions, and somehow, these visions help her. They contain the key to being able to communicate with the aliens and convincing world leaders. Even the smaller details match up, like caged birds in the vision to the caged birds in the present, and the circular language of the Heptapods to her daughter’s drawings in the vision. But how? How does she have this gift? Where did she get it from? What did she get it from? (Also, how the heck was she breathing inside the Shell? Obviously, there was nitrogen and oxygen, but doesn’t gravity do something to that stuff?)
This aside, the movie was all sorts of stunning, mind-bending, thought-provoking, personal, [insert more cool big words here]. This movie definitely tops my very short list of sci-fi movies I’m willing to watch again. I loved it.
All image credits: IMDb
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