Good Monday to you dear Listener; it’s Professor Doctor here. We haven’t invested a lot of time in the ongoing conversation discussing smaller, independent-style movies; there’s no agenda there – it just happens that way. But I have asked the Maestro to consider giving ‘The Visitor’ some of his hard-earned and valuable time, after I saw it last week. It deserves the kind of intelligent, witty, and dare I say it, heartfelt, exploration that The Listener has come to know and, hopefully, love on The Film Talk.
In keeping with our policy of not discussing the film in advance of the show, I’ll have to keep my depper opinions to myself for now; but I think I can get away with this: ‘The Visitor’ deserves your time because it is a serious attempt at telling a story about people who feel real, and who encounter real problems and hopes (grief, the possibility of new friendship, the tortuous negotiation of the US immigration system, learning to play the djembe); the Maestro may tell you that one of the reasons he doesn’t consider contemporary US ‘indie’ drama to be a source of enthusiasm for him is that these films are rarely told with visual flair, and in that regard, why not just make them into plays or novels? And I think, as I often do, that the Maestro is right. But Tom McCarthy, whose previous film is the utterly beguiling ‘The Station Agent’, knows how to frame human beings talking, and while what’s in the physical image is important, I think (and I know the Maestro does too) that a movie that conveys heart but may lack the photographic nuance of Henri Cartier-Bresson (or Henri Alekan, or Vilmos Zsigmond, or Robert Elswit) might still end up being the most engaging film I’ve seen all year.
11 responses so far.
1 Jett Loe // Jul 14, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Ok Ok – you’ve convinced me. :) I will go see the Visitor, (never saw the Station Agent), not only for the lovely feeling your post evokes in me but because director Tom McCarthy played the weaselly villainous reporter in the last season of the Wire!
2 iremonger // Jul 16, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I loved the Station Agent, will have to wait for The Visitor on DVD since good movies rarely make it to smaller markets like West Virginia.
3 Jett Loe // Jul 16, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Other people have said the Station Agent is great as well – will Netflix both of them!
+ sorry to hear about West Virginia – you will feel a kinship to the Professor Doctor when he recounts what happened to him regarding a certain film on this week’s upcoming chapter: ‘Journey to the Center of Hellboy!’.
4 The Film Talk » Oscar Nominations: Non/Predictions // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:03 pm
[...] The Visitor and Heartbeat Detector/La Question Humaine won’t be. [...]
5 The Film Talk » Academy Award Oscar Predictions // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:23 pm
[...] Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (They should give it to him – finally a ‘That Guy’ gets recognition) * Frank Langella [...]
6 The Film Talk » The Visitor // Jan 31, 2009 at 8:58 pm
[...] ‘The Visitor’ Might Just Deserve Your Time [...]
7 Julia // Feb 1, 2009 at 1:58 am
I LOVE The Visitor!!!
8 naomi // Feb 7, 2009 at 3:40 am
I loved the Visitor, especially how the story drew you in and made you feel sympathy for the main characters, thereby forcing you to reevaluate certain prejudices, stereotypes, or beliefs. A good story can be so disarming!
9 naomi // Feb 7, 2009 at 10:40 am
I loved the Visitor, especially how the story drew you in and made you feel sympathy for the main characters, thereby forcing you to reevaluate certain prejudices, stereotypes, or beliefs. A good story can be so disarming!
10 The Film Talk » Oscar Listens to The Film Talk! // Jun 26, 2009 at 3:36 pm
[...] Lucky The Dark Knight Rachel Getting Married (Jett’s Dissent) Milk Heartbeat Detector Wall-E The Visitor Man on Wire Tell Others About [...]
11 The Film Talk » Oh 2012, What Is It About You That Makes Me Love You So? // Oct 3, 2009 at 11:26 am
[...] – who’s the guy on the left? It’s Thomas McCarthy, the writer and director of The Visitor. The writer and director of The Visitor? Yes, in 2012 the writer and director of The Visitor [...]
Leave a Comment