{"id":35482,"date":"2016-01-28T08:30:40","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T16:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/?p=35482"},"modified":"2016-01-28T00:13:37","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T08:13:37","slug":"challenge-week-4-the-visitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/challenge-week-4-the-visitor\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge Week 4: The Visitor"},"content":{"rendered":"

I firmly believe that every year is a good year for movies, but let’s be real – 2007 is a little more good than most, with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to great cinema. That judgement holds even more water now that I’ve added The Visitor<\/em> to my list of favorite films from 2007, because yeah, it’s pretty great.<\/p>\n

It’s a small film, just like the other Tom McCarthy film I’ve seen (and love) The Station Agent<\/em>, but with some very big ideas and emotions. Main character Walter (Richard Jenkins) is an economics professor who’s basically checked out of everything – he’s been teaching the same class for twenty years and it doesn’t matter to him, the book he’s supposed to be writing doesn’t matter to him, nothing matters to him. He’s trying to take piano lessons when we first meet him, and he gives up on that almost immediately, too, unable to carry through his attempt to hold onto something of his late wife, who had been a pianist.<\/p>\n

\"tf-the-visitor4\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Walter a quiet man, though, and all this is teased out throughout the whole movie. Not quiet, however, are the two young people unintentionally squatting in his rarely used New York apartment – they rented it in good faith from a wily opportunist. He lets them stay, the Syrian man and his Senegalese girlfriend. Tarek is a bongo drummer, and he teaches Walter to play after he expresses an interest and eventually an aptitude. The change in Walter isn’t immediate, but it is definite – this man who had forgotten how to feel is getting more than just bongo lessons.<\/p>\n

This makes it all sound terribly sappy, but it isn’t at all. It’s very subtle, and very real, especially when Tarek is arrested for literally no reason but then detained when he’s discovered to be an illegal immigrant. The movie takes a social justice turn at this point (and yeah, it’ll make you mad at our immigration system), but stays focused on the characters and their relationships, on Walter and Tarek and Zeinab, and then on Tarek’s mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass) who comes to be as near her son as she can. The growing tenderness between Walter and Mouna is particularly touching, especially as the film stays committed to the story it’s telling and refuses to bow to sentimentality.<\/p>\n

\"tf-Visitor-7\"<\/p>\n

Jenkins and Abbass are particularly skilled in the minute aspects of acting – a nod of the head or a half-smile speaking volumes. I’ve often been drawn to outsized performances lately, and I do love some good scenery-chewing, but it was a pleasure to see these folks do so much with so little. <\/p>\n

Stats and stuff…<\/h3>\n

2007, USA<\/em>
\nwritten and directed by Tom McCarthy<\/em>
\nstarring Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira, Hiam Abbass<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m ranking all my Challenge films on Flickchart (as I do all the films I see), a movie-ranking website that asks you to choose your favorite between two movies until it builds a ranked list of your favorites. Just for fun, I will average out the rankings and keep a running tally of whose recommendations rank the highest. When you add a film to Flickchart, it pits it against films already on your chart to see where it should fall. Here’s how The Visitor<\/em> entered my chart:<\/p>\n

The Visitor<\/b> beats Wag the Dog
\nThe Visitor<\/b> beats The Devil\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Backbone
\nThe Visitor loses to Ben-Hur<\/b> (1959)
\nThe Visitor<\/b> beats The Shining
\nThe Visitor<\/b> beats Collateral
\nThe Visitor<\/b> beats Whale Rider
\nThe Visitor loses to The Lost Weekend<\/b>
\nThe Visitor<\/b> beats HaHaHa
\nThe Visitor loses to Akira<\/b>
\nThe Visitor<\/b> beats Shutter Island
\nThe Visitor loses to The American<\/b><\/p>\n

Final ranking #486 out of 3583 films on my chart (86th percentile)<\/p>\n

It is now my #1 Tom McCarthy film, my #1 Richard Jenkins film, my #1 Ann-Margret film, my #13 Urban Drama (what a weird collection of films in that filter, but I guess I can see it), and my #8 film of 2007.<\/p>\n

The Visitor<\/em> was recommended by Greg Dorr, a friend from the Flickcharters Group on Facebook.<\/p>\n

A few quotes…<\/h3>\n

Tarek<\/b>: [to Walter, while teaching him bongos] \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a very smart man, but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think. Thinking screws it up.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Walter<\/b>: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been teaching the same course for twenty years and it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean anything to me anymore. None of it does.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Tarek<\/b>: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am not a criminal. I have not committed a crime. I just want to live my life and play my music.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Walter:<\/b> “You can’t just take people away like that. Do you hear me? He was a good man, a good person. It’s not fair! We are not just helpless children! He had a life! Do you hear me? I mean, do YOU hear ME? What’s the matter with you?”<\/p>\n

Mouna<\/b>: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153After a time you forget and think that you really belong.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

A few more screenshots…<\/h3>\n

\"tf-Visitor-3\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-The-Visitor-6\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-The.Visitor5\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-the-visitor-8\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I firmly believe that every year is a good year for movies, but let’s be real – 2007 is a little more good than most, with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to great cinema. That judgement holds even more water now that I’ve added The Visitor to my list of favorite films from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3027],"tags":[3047,3045,3046],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tf-featThe-Visitor-a.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35527,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/challenge-week-6-tommy-boy\/","url_meta":{"origin":35482,"position":0},"title":"Challenge Week 6: Tommy Boy","author":"Jandy","date":"February 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I predicted that this week I might have the first film of the challenge to drop below the halfway mark on my chart, and while I was right about that, I want to stress that I did enjoy Tommy Boy more than I actually expected to. 1990s buddy comedies have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-feat-Callahan-factory.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36496,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/challenge-week-44-the-color-of-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":35482,"position":1},"title":"Challenge Week 44: The Color of Money","author":"Jandy","date":"November 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It's honestly been so long since I've seen The Hustler that I don't remember the details all that well, but I don't think it really mattered going into this much-later sequel. Now Fast Eddie Felson (Newman) is retired from the pool circuit, instead doing very well as a liquor salesman.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tf-feat-the-color-of-money.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36499,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/challenge-week-45-perfume-the-story-of-a-murderer\/","url_meta":{"origin":35482,"position":2},"title":"Challenge Week 45: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer","author":"Jandy","date":"November 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's get the obvious out of the way upfront. This movie is gorgeous. Even when what's on the screen is dirt and filth (like much of the beginning, set in the poorest areas of a French fishing village), it's beautifully lit, shot, and framed. The music, too, is a high\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/tf-feat-perfume.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36655,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/challenge-week-51-joe-versus-the-volcano\/","url_meta":{"origin":35482,"position":3},"title":"Challenge Week 51: Joe Versus the Volcano","author":"Jandy","date":"January 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"What a goofy, weird little comedy. 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I'd been meaning to see it for a while as I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/tf-feat-joevsvolcano.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35711,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/challenge-week-12-milk\/","url_meta":{"origin":35482,"position":4},"title":"Challenge Week 12: Milk","author":"Jandy","date":"March 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I wasn't hugely looking forward to Milk, for a number of reasons - not particularly interested in the subject matter, not a fan of political dramas in general nor biopics, and Sean Penn alternately bores me and skeeves me out. But I was game to give it the old college\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/tf-feat-Milk5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35345,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/letterboxd-season-challenge-high-and-low-1963\/","url_meta":{"origin":35482,"position":5},"title":"Letterboxd Season Challenge: High and Low (1963)","author":"Jandy","date":"October 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Film 3 for the Letterboxd Season Challenge. The other films I plan to watch for the challenge are here. Week 3, Sept 20-26: Master of the East Challenge: Watch an unseen film directed by Akira Kurosawa Film I Chose: High and Low (1963) I've been keeping up watching the films\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/tf-feat-HighandLow5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35482"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}