Thursday, May 22, 2008

Movie review part deux: The Visitor

Bill Holston

One can be the loneliest number, according to Three Dog Night, and this truth is an underlying theme in The Visitor. The film begins with the life of Walter Vale, an Economics Professor in Connecticut. The screen saver on his computer displays a desert scene with all of the desktop icons in an orderly row on the side of his screen. The image summarizes an awfully dry and ordered life. He eats alone, cooking for himself and having a glass of wine. We see no friendships. He’s impatient with others, including his students. In one scene he lectures in a manner that leads to the idea that he has said all of this a thousand times before.

When a lecture brings him to New York, Walter finds his apartment inhabited by a pair of strangers; Tarek Khalil, a Syrian played by Haaz Sleiman; and his Senegalese girlfriend Zainab, played by Danai Jekesai Gurira. This is a wonderful film. Walter has shown some signs that he once had a happy life with his wife, a concert pianist, but loneliness has overwhelmed him. A seemingly random act of kindness in letting these strangers stay in his home, gives rise to an opportunity for an unlikely friendship. The poster lets you in on the theme of drumming, again a communal activity, which is essential to the waking of Walter from his long vacation from an active life.

The film is written and directed by Tom McCarthy, who wrote and directed the wonderful Station Agent. Mr. McCarthy does a wonderful job of telling the stories of people that you just might walk right past, without realizing how remarkable and interesting they are. People are transformed as they choose to engage with and form friendships with people that are quite unlike them.

The political points about our immigration policies can seem a bit heavy handed, but given the state of our world, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t accurate. This is a fine film which I highly recommend. Richard Jenkins plays the part of the isolated professor with subtlety and perfection. Hiam Abbass, as Tarek’s mother, Mouna Khalil, is a wonderful actress, who plays the dignified mother superbly.

Bill says 4.5 stars out of 5.

This review was contributed by a member of the Pegasus News community

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