ARRIVAL - Review

Arrival is a 2016 Science Fiction Film directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario) and written by Eric Heisserer based on “A Story of your Life” by Ted Chiang. It follows Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), a Lingustic Expert and Physicists, to initiate first contact with one of the 12 Alien Crafts that mysteriously appeared around the globe. A tense sci fi, drama thriller in the vein of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Arrival took the First Contact idea and turned it into a drama about predestinations and the importance of communication.

The film’s first important theme is the importance of communication. This is first highlighted during Louise’s first arrival to the Montana Base, where one of the 12 alien craft had landed (dubbed “The Shells”). Multiple Screens are visible showing live feeds from 11 other Sites around the World. A connection that will later revealed to be the key in decoding the alien’s message. Louise’s objective is to find out the Heptapod’s (the name given to the Aliens on account of their seven legs) purpose on Earth.  To achieve the objective, Louise uses her linguistic expertise to teach the Heptapod how to communicate, to the annoyance of her military superiors who wanted nothing but quick results. Louise argued that it is necessary to teach the Heptapods the basic concepts of the Human language to ensure no miscommunication between the two races that might lead to war.  Later China’s misinterpretation of the Heptapod’s message (“Use Weapon”) led to China breaking off communication with the World, followed by the other 10 Nations involved. Believing the Heptapod’s to be hostile, China declared war on the Heptapods and urged the other nations to do the same. At the Montana base, several soldiers, swayed by the rant of a provocateur mounted a plan to bomb the Heptapod’s shell, managing to kill one of them.  Louise attempted to convince her Military Superiors that the Heptapod’s message may be benign and that their concept of Weapon could refer to something else (Knowledge, Technology, etc..). and that to solve the true meaning of the message all 12 Sites around the world should work together.  At the film’s denouement it is revealed that the Heptapod’s does indeed intend to unite the human race to work together, understanding the “Weapon” they’re offering : Their Language.  At one point in the film’s second act, Louise herself said to her Military superiors that, “Language is the first weapon drawn in a conflict”.

The film’s theme of Inevitability and its true heart is stated explicitly in its first 5 minutes. The film opens with a montage showing our Protagonist, Loise Banks (played by Amy Adams) and her daughter, Hannah. The montage quickly goes through Hannah’s birth, and ending with Hannah’s death.  The early years, covering Hannah’s childhood were shot in warm, dreamy, handheld cinematography reminiscent of the Smallville’s sequences in Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel. The dreamy cinematography and warm, golden colour grading conveys both the sense of joy and hints at the true nature of the sequence. However, by scoring the scene with Max Richter’s On The Nature Of Daylight a sense of loss and melancholy are present, and thus the sequence becomes a beacon in the dark, happiness recalled by someone in despair (or maybe this Reviewer was reminded by the effective application of the same Max Richter’s Music for the dream sequence in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island). The Montage ends with Hannah lying lifeless in a hospital room, her head completely shaven, hinting at the disease that killed her (it was never explicitly named).  Through the montage, director Denis Villeneuve brilliantly depicts how death is inevitable, pain unavoidable in life and love, and prepared the film’s big question : “If you could see your whole life played out in front of you, would you go with it, or would you change it?”. Through her understanding of the Heptapod’s non-linear language, Louise also gained an ability to see the future, specifically her daughter, Hannah who has yet to be born out of her future relationship with her colleague, Dr. Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner). The Glimpses into this future informed the audience that Louise and Ian had a daughter and that at some point they would separate, leaving Louise to raise Hannah herself, and that Louise’s foreknowledge of Hannah’s death is what ended her marriage to Ian. Yet despite knowing where her life would lead, Louise decided not to change a thing. 

Arrival is a brilliant sci-fi drama film, with strong cast, strong cinematography, convincing visual effects, and an important message for humans, as both an individual or a member of an entire race. A reminder that death, life, pain, love, grief, joy are inevitable aspects of being human, and that we should all work together to create a better world, because no matter where you are, which flags you salute, whatever language you speak, this is our world.