We just watched The Visitor (2007) for the first time this week. I was riveted by this movie. The characters were real and nuanced. The direction really allowed the actors to settle in and embody the characters. The cinematography and editing really let you feel New York in an unflinching manner vs. the glitz and glamour in which large studios usually cloak the city. The story was compelling without being sugary-sweet or formulaic. In fact, I was continually surprised by the way the story kept evolving with new layers being revealed and highlighted throughout. In that way it was very much like life. It was also similar to life in that everything wasn’t sewn up neatly at the end. This shows much courage by Participant productions, and was quite refreshing, though a bit unsettling.
I think that was really the point of the movie – to leave the viewer unsettled and upset, just as its characters are. It leaves you with many more questions than answers – how can injustices such as this one happen in modern-day America? Is the episode an injustice, or justice? It also illustrates how issues that are so black-and-white when you’re dealing with abstractions become nuanced, sticky, and difficult when the issue is breathed to life in the form of an actual person.
The other theme that screamed at me was the plight of the main character, Professor Walter Vale (played brilliantly by Richard Jenkins), who hadn’t been really living his life for some time. The complications of the plot call him to truly connect with others for the first time in decades, and force him to care about subjects that were completely off his radar previously. It’s an amazing illustration of just how many aspects of life are transparent to us until we are confronted by them.
If you’ve seen The Visitor, what are your theories about how Prof. Vale’s life changes from the end of the movie forward into his life? I have my theories, but I’ll keep them to myself until I hear from you.
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