Arrival

As a kid, my dad used to tell me stories at night just like any other dads out there. I grew up, got busy with life but those priceless timeless beautiful storytelling moments that I once shared, that amazed me in wonder, curiosity, imagination and desire to know more..

I know if I think hard enough I might remember some of them, but that's not the point. The point is all those stories had characters and people and objects and places and things that I could either imagine or something that I could picture and understand and visualize in my young mind. If not for those imaginable characters and people, I would have never understood those stories, the true meaning of the story, the actual story behind the story that my dad probably wanted me to understand.

Arrival, for me is such a story. Aliens are just fun characters that help me understand the story so I can actually see beyond it and understand the untold story. You see, the way I understand it is that the director had to dumb it down for us and wrap this movie in a sci-fi genre and add aliens so you could relate it to something you are familiar with and hoped, really hoped that we try to understand the true purpose, the message behind all this. It simply couldn't have been portrayed better than this!

This movie teaches you a lot of things, if you are ready to learn. About 'time' and how much we are bound by it, about life and death, about loving unconditionally, about believing in yourself that everything happens for a reason, and so much more..

If you are looking for flashy, loud and generally speaking fast paced action Science Fiction: This is not the one you are looking for (no pun intended). But if you like slow, lingering and long shots, a movie that takes time to breathe and gives an epic scale to it's framing and cinematography, you could do a lot worse.

I'm being a bit modest concerning the movie of course, because we're talking about a very well written script, that has a few surprises along the way and warrants more than one viewing and things to discover on those repeat viewings. It is really well acted and it has a story that is gripping as well as interesting from start to finish. The title alone suggests something, even if you haven't seen the trailer (which I didn't) - so you are in a way more prepared than our characters. But at the same time on their level ... So many Questions and not all get answered (at least not while watching it for the first time)

An intriguing, interesting and original story focussing on Louise Banks (Amy Adams) a preeminent linguistics professor who must lead humanity in communicating with visiting aliens. I think what most caught me surprised that it's so different from all the other scifi alien "attacks" movies - it's not all action all-guns-blazing at the threat - yet, rather a thoughtful humanity driven movie. Amy Adams is amazing as the protagonist demonstrating humanity as well communicating and befriending the aliens' unknown language and the impact it has on her. She carries the movie single-handed. I think it's a very beautiful message about humanity, what's the whole story is about. And tragic, surely, that despite knowing her future and the painful future she will have, she will not change anything. That's a great message. "Despite knowing the journey, and where it leads... I embrace it... and I welcome every moment of it."

Denis Villeneuve is without a doubt an upcoming director and I can't wait to see Blade Runner 2049. Prisoners, Sicario and now Arrival (haven't seen Enemy yet, or some of his earlier work). Denis knows how to capture the tension. It is almost the strongest point of all of his films. Minimal use of computer generated images, and main focus on story, characters, acting and thrilling scenes. Back on IMDb board, I have noticed a lot of people calling Arrival a boring movie. So many hypocrites these days. People trying to point out every possible flaw to look and sound smarter while at the same time hailing far worse movies. Calling it boring and slow while at the same time complaining no originality in Hollywood, only giant CGI laser explosions extravaganza. Go watch Independence Day. In Arrival there is no action, no explosions, just some amazing acting performances combined with good directing, editing and cinematography. There was not a single moment I felt bored.

I watched this recently again and going a second time around, I appreciated the depth in this film. Arrival probes profound questions about time, language, and human behavior. The cinematography here was also excellent.