The Visitor

posted by Jett Loe

The good Prof. Dr. has been on me for ages to see ‘The Visitor’:

‘The Visitor’ Might Just Deserve Your Time

‘The Visitor’ Screening as Part of the ‘Vote No to the Nashville English Only Referendum’ Campaign

Gareth’s Films of the Year: The Top Ten

and I finally did.

While I disagree with Gareth regarding its merit, (I found the ‘oh look we’re an independent film vibe’ grating – especially the fonts used in the titles, the faux shaky camerawork and ‘alternative’ framing – the film would have been greatly improved if Uta Briesewitz was the photographer; and yes, this could be said of most movies – but her style, as seen on The Wire, would have been especially welcome here).

Anyhew, while I don’t think the film, (as a film in itself), is special, there are two reasons reasons to see it:

1] Richard Jenkins of course has been lauded – he’s one of TV and Film’s longstanding ‘hey it’s that guy’ guys and of course it’s welcome seeing him in an actual narrative through-line of a film, (rather than only appearing in one or two scenes as ‘Detective No. 2′ or ‘Man in Photo Shop’).

Jenkins deserves the attention he’s been getting for one scene in particular.  In the pic he’s asked to watch over a small stall selling jewelry and as someone looks at the merchandise he says “They’re all handmade”.

The way he says this should be enshrined in ‘Movie’s Greatest Moments’.

It’s fantastic.

And it works in the context of the film’s themes so well – for his character, Professor Walter Vale, is an economist, and one can imagine him droning on his classroom about the flow of money around the world – but in the course of the film’s narrative he comes smack, bam, boom up against the reality of globalization – and this is important – comes face to face with a world in which money has more rights than people.  It is insane that money is able to move freely from nation state to nation state, while we, those that created/imagined money are trapped within these same nation states/stopped at borders/detained.  This is hell.  A hell that we’ve created and which leads me to the second reason to see the pic.

2] The Detention Center.  In the film, a friend of Dr. Vale’s, Tarek, (blandly thesped by Haaz Sleiman - but hey at least he’s not playing a terrorist or cab driver – so I’m happy for Mr. Sleiman – jeebus it’s hard enough being an actor, imagine being an Arabic actor in the States?), is detained.

And so Walter has to visit him, and visit he does several times throughout the pic.  These are the films best moments as the chilling reality of the ‘binary/black-white/you’re with us or against us’ world the criminal Bush Administration created is made apparent.

The ‘Detention Center’, (in fact a jail, where we know some prisoners have been kept for years), sits squatly and squarely, white and innocuous a on city corner – looking for all the world like a small industrial plant, the kind of place where a business would house workers assembling air conditioners.

Within the walls of the Center it’s quite clear that no one has rights.   It’s a horrible place, brightly lit and brightly clean – it conjures up the stories we’ve heard of ‘detainees’ held 24 hours a day in small cells with the lights always kept on.  Torture.  That’s what happened.  This country decided that a type of people could be tortured.  And people defended it and still do, (incredibly, not just the ones directly culpable who are, at this moment, sh****g themselves, worried they’ll be arrested for war crimes – at least they’re under U.S. house arrest – Alberto Gonzales does not dare travel to Europe – they would Pinochet his ass).

That, finally is the reason to see The Visitor.  To begin to get a handle, some understanding, of what happened to the U.S. in the last 8 years.  You should see it.

(Image above adapted from possible on-set photo found on Filmcatcher)

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 31st, 2009 at 8:58 pm. It is filed under Blog, Character Actors, Drama, Jett Loe, Jett Loe Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.