Denis Villeneuve
Arrival

The theme of close encounters is among the most overused in the history of cinema. The reason is the same that drives the collective imagination to represent the fears of change, the disruption of the pre-established order in the relationship with the "different," with the unknown, and to wonder how the most radical changes can affect both life as we know it and, much more importantly, our own intimacy, our personal vision of the meaning we believe life holds.

Arrival partly offers this duality. On one hand, it is worth acknowledging that whenever, in recent years, stories about alien invasions have been well told (I'm thinking for example of District 9 or Avatar), the simple metaphor game of the "different" has led to forced reflections on current events and what actually already happens on our planet: the fear of diversity understood no longer in the simple color of skin but in social condition, religion, or status, has always led the "normal" to wonder if all this should be considered a threat or a resource. On the other hand, there is the more intimate aspect, so subjective that it maybe concerns the true meaning of life, accepting change and diversity as the only weapon for improvement and (possibly) a path to happiness and cohesion.

This film is profound (it was the first term that came to mind when the lights came on in the theater) and it truly is, not only because it partly deals with important topics like these (it's not even the first time: see that overly underrated gem Contact) but because it does so with immense poetry and drives it all by making us understand from the very beginning that the real protagonist of the whole story is not just the human in relation to the different, but it's the language, understood truly as comprehension and openness.

All that the frightened U.S. military wants is to understand the intentions of the visitors, because they are stationary with their spacecraft (called "shells") in twelve sites scattered for no apparent reason on the globe, how long they will stay, when they will leave, and if they will ever return: the task of understanding their way of expression is entrusted to Dr. Louise Banks who soon, with the help of a theoretical physicist, will find a way to communicate with them and, of course, will be the only one able to understand the final message. She will do so at her own expense, with consciousness, love but also immense suffering; she will do so because she knows that there can be no threat if there is understanding.

This is where Arrival's duality lies: understanding must be meant in the true sense of understanding a language even before understanding a state of mind. In fact, it is precisely the way of expression that shapes (and I'm not saying "shape" by accident) every emotion and intention.

Paradoxically, it is the very progression of the film, sometimes slow and pleasantly expanded at the same time, that makes communication the key to the storytelling itself: and it's a 360-degree narrative that Villeneuve offers, as if everything (photography and sound first of all) has been put together to convey a precise message, and for once it feels immensely pleasing to realize that aesthetic perfection does not make you regret the lack of content. That Villeneuve is a magnificent author was already known and the shift to the sci-fi genre is just a confirmation (although I admit I'm scared at the idea of the sequel to Blade Runner), the technical mastery is palpable in every aspect, and if the splendid sequence of the first entry into the "shell" reminded me so much of the standoff at the border checkpoint in Sicario, it means that contemporary cinema truly needs such signatures.

Therefore, Arrival is not just a film for sci-fi enthusiasts, Arrival is a film of surprising intelligence and remarkable emotional depth, certainly not perfect (as all truly interesting things are not perfect), but it stays within and makes you reflect on many aspects of contemporary times, which perhaps have nothing to do with alien invasions.

If only we could understand each other better, how many more things could we discover about others, but especially about ourselves.