Visitors

I was fortunate enough to come out of a European premiere with Glass and Reggio doing a small Q&A after the screening, providing some insight in their scoring/filmmaking process.

Should you already be familiar with other Reggio/Glass collaborations, expect no surprises; the film takes gracefully advantage of modern cinematic techniques and some CGI, but in its core is using the same visual narrative introduced in Koyaanisqatsi, albeit using humans primarily as a focus.

Reggio does have an overarching vision and communicates it with deliberation, but that vision tries to capture expression and reaction predominantly around technology, in its spontaneity. Although most of the people depicted are indeed actors, they were given no script or instructions, merely captured after given certain stimuli. The nature/human relationship is once again explored, I feel however, to a lesser degree compared to his older material.

A lot of viewers would not find logical or coherent structure in it, but as Reggio pointed out, that was not the movie's goal. Rather, it is more of a collage of visual elements as for the viewer to experience, absorb and process as they will.

I really liked the shot of the gorilla and also the buildings but I couldn't help but not care about the people so I went to write this review instead.

The pacing of the images adds up to a constant slow mo effect, which is nice but gets old quickly.

Being a Philip glass fan I can only like the music but to be fair I wouldn't put it on much by itself. I'd have rather liked to hear some crazy Einstein on the beach rhythms with these images, it might change the tempo and vibe a bit. Wait I can just listen to the album on my headphones and mute this.. later..

Godfrey Reggio first came to international prominence in 1982 with his extraordinary visual essay "Koyaanisqatsi", (I don't think of it as a documentary). This wordless account of 'life out of balance' was followed by "Powaqqatsi" and "Naqoyqatsi", all similarly looking at life on this planet as if seen perhaps by an outsider, an alien observing us but keeping their distance. These films were tone-poems in the most literal sense; wordless they may have been but all driven forward by the continuous, energizing scores of Philip Glass.

He made "Visitors" in 2014. The title alone alludes more to the concept of 'outside' observation although the second face we see, (of many, many faces; the first is that of a large gorilla), is of a young girl looking directly at the camera, followed by that of a man. Who, we find ourselves asking, are the visitors? The faces on the screen? Us, the audience in the auditorium? Are we watching or are we being watched? If "Koyaanisqatsi" was about 'life out of balance' then the measured pace of the shots in "Visitors" would seem to be very much about life in balance although gradually these 'still' images give way to movement, of people in slow motion, of clouds racing across the sky. Children are seen in close-up but they seem to be on a merry-go-round; the balance is being interrupted.

Of course, it's impossible to think of these images without Philip Glass' accompaniment. Perhaps never in the history of the movies has music and image been so conducive to one another than in the films of Godfrey Reggio. Lacking any kind of narrative structure I have often felt his films were more like video installations to be experienced projected onto the walls of an art gallery rather than to be seen in a cinema or on television. They are certainly the kind of films for which the term 'art-house' might have been invented.

"Visitors" is shot in black and white, making it perhaps the most 'art-house' of all his films. Is it boring? I'd be a liar if I didn't say yes but only because we are not used to seeing this kind of film-making, which is hypnotic if nothing else. Is it pretentious? Probably, but in relation to what since no-one else is doing this kind of stuff outside of the avant-garde. What's for certain is, you won't find its like elsewhere.

Visitors is an 87 minute journey through the electronically obsessed life as we know it today. The film forces you to stare deep into the soul of other beings experiencing life on this rock that we all are ultimately just...visiting and destroying at the same time.

The way the film stares out at you and forces you to stare back at it is nothing less than creative perfection. The cuts are just long enough for you to understand the message while making you squirm in your seat as you imagine each move of the character on-screen reflecting your very own movements in the audience.

I would recommend this film to anyone who appreciates great art in movement.

Wow! The word review does not apply to this film. A review implies an explanation. Which in this case would be like trying to explain a vivid dream several hours later. This film truly is a cinematic experience. A journey that I was twenty five minutes into before I realized that I was not watching a film, but rather a film was watching me. Each emotional nuance expressed created a cascading effect of conscious questions and reflections of the artistry that was unfolding. Masterfully woven images driven by an exquisitely orchestrated musical score. The images accentuate the music, or the music enhances the images. Or it could be completely the other way around? I was fortunate enough to witness the world premiere of this masterpiece at TIFF. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra performed the soundtrack live. Which in itself was a most unique cinematic experience, I strongly suggest live musical accompaniment of film should be repeated not only here in Toronto, but Globally. Everything that is old is eventually new again. Godfrey Reggio, Sir you are a genius. You have created your own artistic genre, you have expanded on it, reinvented it and turned it around on itself to create something completely new. Philip Glass, Sir you are a genius, your music is the life blood of inspiration. To all the cast and crew of this gem of a film, congratulations! And thank you.