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Personal Response - Arrival

This film follows linguistics professor Louise Banks as she attempts to communicate with aliens that have arrived on Earth. Unlike most alien films where they immediately attack, this film explores realistic negotiations and understanding between humans and aliens. Louise learns their language and discovers it allows the experience of all time simultaneously. Flashbacks are actually of events that haven't happened yet. It's not until the end that the nonlinear story is fully understood, revealing Louise will have a daughter she knows will die but embraces anyway.

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Kira Moore
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2K views2 pages

Personal Response - Arrival

This film follows linguistics professor Louise Banks as she attempts to communicate with aliens that have arrived on Earth. Unlike most alien films where they immediately attack, this film explores realistic negotiations and understanding between humans and aliens. Louise learns their language and discovers it allows the experience of all time simultaneously. Flashbacks are actually of events that haven't happened yet. It's not until the end that the nonlinear story is fully understood, revealing Louise will have a daughter she knows will die but embraces anyway.

Uploaded by

Kira Moore
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Kira Moore

Arrival
A Denis Villeneuve Film
This film follows Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and her attempts to communicate with alien
lifeforms that have arrived on Earth.
What makes the story interesting is that, instead of telling the same clichd aliens arrive and
immediately attack story that has been reiterated in various films, it looks at how a situation
like this might realistically be handled. By negotiations and attempting to understand the
alien lifeforms. This is where Louise (Adams) comes in as she is a linguistics professor. In
addition to this we only ever receive Louises viewpoint. We only know what she knows
throughout majority of the film which adds to this realism.
The true intrigue of this film is found through the mystery that is maintained; the tension that
leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat throughout the whole of the experience. The very
format of the film means you have to concentrate and constantly infer because it doesnt
follow an exact chronology. There are jumps that blur the lines between what is real and
currently happening and what is only in Louises head and what is present, past or future.
This is particularly evident in both the opening and closing sequences for the film. Both of
these could be described as montages. The opening sequence, in particular, shows this lack
of fixed chronology through a variety of shots and angles. It shows Louise with her daughter,
she grows and we are shown a few shots of what we presume to be memories up until her
daughter dies of cancer. The reason we presume them to have happened in the past is
because the camera work suggests so. A misted slightly out of focus technique is used
which is generally associated with something that has happened in the past. The lack of a
complete sequence also suggests the fragmented nature of memory with the camera angle
and shot type changing with every fragment. It is only with hindsight, however, that this
becomes important.
Throughout the story we learn more about the alien lifeforms (Heptopods as they are
named) and their language through Louise. Theres no correlation between what they speak
and write and they write in circles. This is described as knowing where the sentence will start
and end as well as simultaneously knowing exactly how much room each word will need. It
is eventually revealed that their language is their gift to Earth. It enables a person to
experience all of time all at once as Louise starts to experience. There is a build up to this
shown throughout the film by various jumps in chronology.
It isnt until the end sequence that we actually realise all of the fragments of presumed
memory havent happened yet. Because Louise has learnt the language she has gained the
ability to experience all of her own life all at once. The daughter she has yet to have will die
but she chooses to have her anyway because despite knowing the journey and where it will
take [her. She] embrace[s] it. This is shown in the end sequence as it flickers between what
is happening and what will happen. This happens a lot faster than in the opening sequence
with a larger variety of shots but each is more complete. So while the actual memory
changes are faster the full memory sequences are slower showing the understanding of
everything that Louise has achieved. We see Louise meeting her husband (Ian played by
Jeremy Renner who works as a scientist in Louises team) for the first time and then see that
he leaves her after she tells him what will happen to their daughter. Again, these are shot to
look like memories but happen in the future.
Therefore, the reason this film is so enjoyable is because it makes no sense until the end.
You are confused right up until the point where everything falls into place. You cant expect
Kira Moore

anything from this film and, unless you concentrate on it, you cannot enjoy it properly. It is
the perfect mixture of tense, mysterious and dramatic. The tone of the film is entirely unique
because of the originality behind the story.
The visual effects of the Heptopods, theyre always shrouded in mist and we only see half of
them until the very end, are symbolic of the very nature of the film. They give a gift to
humanity rather than attack it and expect help in the future for it. They know their own future
and that they will need the help of the human race. This when paired with the editing and
camera work aforementioned creates the entirely unique and enjoyable experience.

Sorry I couldnt find any reference clips on YouTube to show the sequences I
mentioned.

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