The genre of science fiction runs on a spectrum. There are two major subgenres, "hard" and "soft" science fiction. Hard science fiction generally centers around what are known as the "hard" sciences, that being the sciences which have a heavy emphasis on mathematics, and is thus adhere closely the laws of the physical world. Soft science fiction tends to focus on culture and society, and deemphasizes the hard science, in favor of more, shall we say, fantastic speculation. Now, these are very nebulous, and there are elements of both in some works. However, these tend to be the two sides of science fiction. Arrival appears to be one of those exception, which generally takes elements from both. It is a hard science fiction film, about linguistics, a field which doesn't tend to focus on mathematics. Yeah, as a feature film, it doesn't dwell too much on linguistics, but it is a major element, and its application to the translation of an literal alien certainly does raise implication, on how we could possibly interact with aliens in the future. This was definitely a fascinating film.
Based on the short story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang, Arrival follows the, well, arrival of twelve alien ships across several locations on the Earth, which causes widespread fear and panic across the world. Colonel Weber (Forrest Whittaker) hires linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) to be part of an exploration group into one of the ships in Montana. Along the way is theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner). Banks seems to be haunted by flashbacks of her deceased daughter. She manages to determine that the aliens writing and speech are separate, and uses a single word of their language (human) to break down the language barrier. Thus, they are able to decode the language, and begins a communication with the aliens. However, around the world, militaries begin to take premature precautions. In particular, People's Liberation Army Commander Shang (Tzi Ma) is prepared to declare war. Matters are not helped, when the aliens claim to bring a weapon to the humans. As the international chaos continues, Banks and Donnelly unravel the mystery behind their intentions. And even the supposed flashbacks Banks is having....
Certainly, the "First Contact" trope is nothing new fiction. People going back centuries have written about encounters between aliens and humans. This film decides to focus on one of the major elements of the trope, decoding the language, and starting it off from there. It properly shows how an alien language, which comes from the ink out of an alien's hands, can actually be decoded, if the humans and extraterrestrial reach an understanding. The fact that their words are not representations of speech, but rather entire concepts cements how alien they truly are. Time is also a major subtext, with the various flashbacks and mentions of time. There is an ingenious twist at the end, which I will not spoil, but it builds off the rest of the movie, and makes you reconsider the rest of the film in that context. The fact the film seems to flash back actually underscores the twist even more. I also liked how rather than tell you the effects immediately, hint at them, and use them to resolve the conflict. The alien design, while nothing special, does serve a narrative purpose, in terms of how they communicate.
I would've liked to have seen a bit more of the international crises going on in the background, especially with General Shang and the People's Republic. He barely appears, and as the antagonist, he deserved more characterization. A little bit more explanation on the aliens would've been nice, particularly what sort of atmosphere they came from, since they are able to walk, but also "swim" in this fog like atmosphere. It bothered me. At first, I thought they might have evolved on a gas giant, but 1.) How could they have constructed a metallic ship, and 2.) How would they be able to walk. It bothered me through the movie.
Yeah, I might be biased, since I enjoy movies like this, but I think this is one of the best pictures of the year. A nice exploration into language, and how we communicate, and how we might communicate with extraterrestrials. If you're interested in such topics, I highly recommend this movie. It really adds a new spin on the subject of "First Contact", that many works haven't explored. And I certainly wish this movie produces discussion on such topics in the near future.
Based on the short story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang, Arrival follows the, well, arrival of twelve alien ships across several locations on the Earth, which causes widespread fear and panic across the world. Colonel Weber (Forrest Whittaker) hires linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) to be part of an exploration group into one of the ships in Montana. Along the way is theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner). Banks seems to be haunted by flashbacks of her deceased daughter. She manages to determine that the aliens writing and speech are separate, and uses a single word of their language (human) to break down the language barrier. Thus, they are able to decode the language, and begins a communication with the aliens. However, around the world, militaries begin to take premature precautions. In particular, People's Liberation Army Commander Shang (Tzi Ma) is prepared to declare war. Matters are not helped, when the aliens claim to bring a weapon to the humans. As the international chaos continues, Banks and Donnelly unravel the mystery behind their intentions. And even the supposed flashbacks Banks is having....
Certainly, the "First Contact" trope is nothing new fiction. People going back centuries have written about encounters between aliens and humans. This film decides to focus on one of the major elements of the trope, decoding the language, and starting it off from there. It properly shows how an alien language, which comes from the ink out of an alien's hands, can actually be decoded, if the humans and extraterrestrial reach an understanding. The fact that their words are not representations of speech, but rather entire concepts cements how alien they truly are. Time is also a major subtext, with the various flashbacks and mentions of time. There is an ingenious twist at the end, which I will not spoil, but it builds off the rest of the movie, and makes you reconsider the rest of the film in that context. The fact the film seems to flash back actually underscores the twist even more. I also liked how rather than tell you the effects immediately, hint at them, and use them to resolve the conflict. The alien design, while nothing special, does serve a narrative purpose, in terms of how they communicate.
I would've liked to have seen a bit more of the international crises going on in the background, especially with General Shang and the People's Republic. He barely appears, and as the antagonist, he deserved more characterization. A little bit more explanation on the aliens would've been nice, particularly what sort of atmosphere they came from, since they are able to walk, but also "swim" in this fog like atmosphere. It bothered me. At first, I thought they might have evolved on a gas giant, but 1.) How could they have constructed a metallic ship, and 2.) How would they be able to walk. It bothered me through the movie.
Yeah, I might be biased, since I enjoy movies like this, but I think this is one of the best pictures of the year. A nice exploration into language, and how we communicate, and how we might communicate with extraterrestrials. If you're interested in such topics, I highly recommend this movie. It really adds a new spin on the subject of "First Contact", that many works haven't explored. And I certainly wish this movie produces discussion on such topics in the near future.
