Godfrey Reggio’s “Visitors”, which has been introduced to the
public in a preview compiled by Stephen Soderbergh, is indeed rather simple in technical
concept. The film comprises about 75
long takes, black-and-white, and dogme-style, in slow motion of various
persons, objects, buildings, nature scenes, and scenery, even on the Moon, with
a triple-time brooding score by Philip Glass. The comparison to Reggio’s “Koyaanisqatsi” (“Life
out of Balance”) in 1982 is obvious, as it is also to perhaps Robert Fricke’s “Samsara”
(Sept. 22, 2012).
The black-and-white Cinemascope (like “Hud”) is really
effective here. We focus on the strange
beauty around us, reduced to shades and tones we had never noticed, as in a
scene in a Louisiana swamp where the white of the leaves along the water snarls
us. We become changed merely by
assimilating something like this.
But I do have to get to a theory about the “point”. The film opens with a take of a female
gorilla from the Bronx Zoo. Soon we see
a shot of the lunar surface, and then of some plain but hollow abandoned
highrise buildings (I think it’s in Brooklyn), and then the people, first one
at a time, and then ensemble. Despite
the diversity (all races and ages and genders) there is a disturbing uniformity
to their expression. Soon we see eye and
facial movements, like being suppressed trying to speak. We see some odd finger exercises; maybe some
of them were pianists. Later, in a
particular ensemble scene, a little more individuality leaks out. We see one man with total alopecia (of his
head), but then the camera lets us enjoy some robust physical attractiveness,
for a moment.
All throughout, we are peppered with images of waste,
particularly involving amusement parks (probably Coney Island, as well as the
site of the 1964 World’s Fair hear Citi Field in Flushing, Queens). We see landfills, and abandoned factory
spaces. Near the end, we see Earth (with
a splash of blue) from the Moon, and then it is wiped out.
So I certainly have my theory. The “visitors” are abductees, taken to
another world since ours is to be destroyed.
They are not just the observers, they are also watched, like in a zoo or
model space on “Twilight Zone”. Maybe
there is a hint of “Planet of the Apes”.
The visitors are, in my parlance, “The Proles”. The premise may be that of the NatGeo film “Evacuate Earth” (cf blog, Aug. 30, 2013). Several
of my own novel manuscripts present the destruction of the world, rescue of the
chosen by angels, and “amusement tents” for the masses, that in turn eventually
fall into ruin. I have thought of all of
this before.
The official site (Cinedigm) is here.
I saw this at the early evening show at Landmark E Street in
Washington DC tonight, and I expected a sellout. Instead, the crowd was sparse,
in the large auditorium #1. Don't confuse "Visitors" with "Visions" which is scheduled for release as a horror film in 2014.
Picture: lunar surface, Virginia Air and Space Museum in Hampton Second, Japan's maglev train. Third, my layout.
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