Arrival (2016)

Genre

Drama | Sci-Fi

Director

Denis Villeneuve

Country

USA

Cast

Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, Mark O'Brien

Storyline

When twelve mysterious spacecrafts appear around the world, linguistic expert Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is tasked with interpreting the language of the alien visitors.

Opinion

After that poor excuse of a science-fiction movie "Passengers" was, I was really looking forward to "Arrival" as everyone said how good it was. And they were right, "Arrival" is indeed a thrilling sci-fi masterpiece and an extraordinary thought-provoking film.

Based on Ted Chiang's book, the well paced and engaging story isn't the typical alien invasion we get with blockbusters, but it's something completely different. The encounter with the aliens indeed is a confrontation between two cultures. This is the focus of the film, the struggle to communicate, which unfortunately is an issues still nowadays.

It also deals with the fear of the unknown, but the most important part - at least it was to me - is the intimate human side of the story whose incredible emotional power makes the film for a fantastic experience. How is that? Because it teaches to accept the finitude beauty of life. To enjoy every single moment. And I say no more. I don't want to spoil it for you.

However, the real reason this film works is the characters. They are not the typical clichéd plot devices very common in films of this genre, but they feel like actual people I was able to connect with almost immediately. And it's probably because the main character is a woman, a strong woman that uses her knowledge and skills to change the world. And it's properly developed. And wonderfully portrayed by Amy Adams who gives a superb, moving and vulnerable performance (only to be robbed of an Oscar nomination).

The greatness of "Arrival" doesn't stop there. The film in fact features a cinematography by Bradford Young that is not nothing short of breathtaking, and a wonderful musical score composed by Johann Johannsson. Not to mention the production design. Simply mind blowing.

11 comments :

  1. Stesso voto e stesso impatto: concordo pienamente con te! Gran bel film! Peccato che l'Academy abbia snobbato la mia cara Amy..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Infatti. Poi proprio dovevano nominare Meryl Streep al suo posto? Sta cosa che la nominano sempre inizia ad irritarmi un po'. Che poi secondo me l'hanno nominata soltanto per quello che ha detto su Trump ai Golden Globes.

      Delete
  2. Great review! I loved this one too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm so glad you loved this! It was very nearly my favourite movie of the whole of the year. Amy Adams was robbed for not going a nomination for this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. But she didn't do a speech on Trump so she wasn't nominated.

      Delete
  4. Non ti nego che non mi aspettavo molto, invece sono rimasto a bocca aperta. Bella scoperta!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neanche io mi aspettavo molto, invece si è rivelato il film di fantascienza dell'anno.

      Delete
  5. Awesome review - one of my favorites of last year. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the review, had to watch it twice to fully appreciate and grasp it.

    ReplyDelete