SSC 30: Potluck — Arrival (Villeneuve, 2016) with James Stacey

Tim and Tay are once again joined by James Stacey (The Grey Nato) to talk about another Denis Villeneuve movie: Arrival. We discuss this movie's patience, the cinematic  function of the Louise's transformation, and more in this potluck episode. 

Synopsis
When twelve alien ships appear on Earth, a linguist must determine how to communicate with the visitors before more paranoid and violent ambassadors of the human race take action.

Starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, and directed by Denis Villeneuve, Arrival was released Sept. 2, 2016.

Arrival is available to stream on Crave.

Tay's Scene  [23:30-33:00]
Almost immediately after arriving at the base, Louise and Ian are rushed in to prepare to visit the alien spacecraft. They are driven over and anticipation mounts as they prepare to enter the vessel.

Tim's Scene [1:19:55-1:25:21]
Louise’s developing grasp of the heptapod language prompts more and more recollections of her daughter, which take on a new dimension when she realizes she can actively affect the memories, calling into question what they are and how she is seeing them.

James' Scene [1:33:14 - 1:43:39]
With unprompted help from a future General Shang, Louise puts her newfound abilities to use to prevent a military response against the heptapod ships.

Links

• Denis' filmography
• Dune: Part 2 starts filming
• Rendezvous With Rama
• "Story of Your Life"
• The Kuleshov Effect
• Song Exploder, ft. Johann Johannsson
• The lost soundtrack for Avatar (Cameron, 2009)
• Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (Jarmusch, 1999)
• Tarkovsky on film
• Primer (Carruth, 2004)

Recommendations

• Tim — Captive State (Wyatt, 2019)—rent on Google Play
• Tay — Lifeforce (Hooper, 1985)—stream on Shudder
• James — Annihilation (Garland, 2018)—stream on Hoopla 

All links are verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

Follow:

• SSC on Instagram
• Tim on Letterboxd