Alien Visitor

This a movie which needs the story to carry itself: the scenery is nice but there is nothing much else to be seen. The story touches on a number of important social subjects such as protecting the environment and tolerance between cultures as well as SF subjects such as time-travel and alien visitors. Unfortunately it does not deliver on any of these subjects. It points out problems but never hints at any solution. And how do the aliens solve these problems? Well, they have a superior intellect and solve everything through their mind: time and space travel, energy production and everything else you can think of. I do not expect the makers to have all the answers, but just summoning up things which are wrong does not validate this movie.

The beginning was promising, but I ended up being disappointed in the end

If you liked "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" - you'll probably like this film. Don't look for special effects - it's more about ideas. It's a bit on the preachy side, but it's head and shoulders above most of the easily forgettable movies produced these days. By the way, it doesn't have much action either - just some simply presented ideas worth thinking about.

Simplistic, pragmatic, tedious and unforgiveably boring. It's very difficult to make a good movie out of a conversation - which is really all this is. I kept waiting for there to be some real action. Never happened. Don't even bother with this one unless you like pretty scenery and nothing else.

It's no surprise that this movie never had any theatre play in my neck of the woods. No CGI, no explosions, no "action", just plenty of hard-hitting dialogue and a story about overcoming denial and making good decisions.

"Alien Visitor" is a simple tale about how a good natured fellow has his worldview transformed by a woman from another star system. Like most of us, he is aware of Earth's environmental and social problems, but refuses to take any personal responsibility for them, and does his best to ignore the issues altogether. "She" is disgusted by this "Earth mentality", and ruthlessly and repeatedly forces him to face the truth and his own complicity in the planet's destruction.

The movie is primarily a morality tale, and one that should be mandatory viewing in my opinion--the issues are too important to be ignored. But it is also an impressive look at other little concepts, like the stubborn human psyche, or how relationships mean more than anything else. It shows us how difficult it is to shift long-held viewpoints, even with irrefutable evidence, and how it is often love that helps us finally accept ideas that are otherwise too agonizing. Finally, it shows us that we do at least have the power to change ourselves for the better if me just make the effort.

For all this, and that fact that it's all done without a major budget, I give "Alien Visitor" an 8/10.

This film had the potential to be a truly great flick .. but was let down badly by its 'sledgehammer' approach to environmental issues, and the appallingly bad acting in the closing scene.

As an armchair greenie, I was pleased to see a film that brought the issues of sustainable resource development to the forefront .. but the continuous hammering on a single issue became annoying.

There are, however, some excellent moments in the movie.

The concept of "You breathe the foul air" as a dismissive insult is particularly evocative, and the ever-changing scenery does far more to draw attention to Ullie Birve's 'alien-ness' as She than all of Hollywood's FX could ever do.

Unlike most science-fiction of the 90s, this was not a chance to show off technological whizz-bangery .. and Rolf de Heer has, with just a few camera angle & location changes, done a masterful job of showing us changed perceptions.

Syd Brisbane, another de Heer favourite, plays the role of The Man with just the right combination of wide-eyed wonderment and plodding suburban pig-headedness .. but there needed to be more made of his Saul-like conversion if his later, unseen role was to be believed.

Which brings us to the final scene.

Althea McGrath's narration was quietly brilliant throughout the film, and her on-camera acting in the final scene was OK, if not outstanding. But oh, her grandchildren ...

Chloe and Phoebe Ferguson got quite good reviews for their roles in another de Heer film, "The Quiet Room" .. but unfortunately in Epsilon, their minor (but crucial) roles as "Child" and "Child" in the campfire sequence don't work.

In fact, the closing scene makes the entire movie like the fire itself: it casts light, it crackles and flares .. but eventually the wooden performances in the dying embers of the film leave nothing but ashes .. and the mood that de Heer has tried to conjure up blows away like so much smoke.

Which is a pity because, as I began, this movie could have been so much more.