"After he had lain still there about an hour he heard a low and seemingly very distant sound, but singularly grand and impressive, unlike anything he had ever heard, gradually swelling and increasing as if it would have a universal and memorable ending, a sullen rush and roar, which seemed to him all at once like the sound of a vast body of fowl coming in to settle there, and, seizing his gun, he started up in haste and excited; but he found, to his surprise, that the whole body of the ice had started while he lay there, and drifted in to the shore, and the sound he had heard was made by its edge grating on the shore -- at first gently nibbled and crumbled off, but at length heaving up and scattering its wrecks along the island to a considerable height before it came to a standstill."
Henry David Thoreau, Walden
The way that Shane Carruth plays with science fiction trappings is one that continually fascinates me. With Primer, he managed to make time travel into something that could potentially happen, while also noting that it would just as difficult to understand and explain as we could imagine it, and with Upstream Color, he uses mind control and empathic linking to explore the trials and tribulations of human connection and trauma, in all of its messiness and disheveled chaos.
Like Kubrick and Nolan, Carruth finds a way to make these fantastical science fiction tropes that we love somehow feel very real and plausible. His brand of science fiction is the one I prefer: one that makes me think and feel at the same time, and one that keeps me pining for more and keeps me in awe of its inventiveness.
Upstream Color is much more broad in its approach than Primer. At once, it's an esoteric science fiction film, it's a woozy love story in the vein of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Her, and it's a deeply felt and human story about trauma and overcoming it. Upstream Color is certainly more inviting and artistic than his more cold predecessor, though just as befuddling and elusive.
Carruth's style still has that sense of the mundane normalcy that was found in Primer, yet there was a sense of surrealism and disorientation that lurks in the background in this film. I can admire an artist who wants to challenge himself, to push his own boundaries and explore the possibilities of his abilities, and Carruth manages to do so with Upstream Color. I was quite impressed by his use of visual storytelling with the film's near dialogue-less third act, which is a complete contrast to Primer, which relied extensively on its technical dialogue in order for the audience to follow what was going on.
Yet much of the film's power rests on the chemistry of Carruth and his co-star, the lovely Amy Seimetz. There is a simple, yet deeply felt humanity that is found in their characters and their connection with each other. It is their connection and chemistry with each other that drives the film forward, as they begin to realize what's happened to them and as they continue to try and fix their shattered lives in the process. Much of the film's heart comes from their connection to each other and their desire to work through the trauma that they've endured in their lives, not unlike Joel and Clementine's connection in Eternal Sunshine or Theodore and Samantha's in Her.
Another show stealer for me is the music. My mother came in a few times while I was watching it to ask what the hell was going on and what I was watching, because of the constant barrage of ambient music that she could hear in the living room while I was watching it. While I found the music in Primer to be rather forgettable, Upstream Color's score is one that felt important to the narrative as it continued on its track. It adds to the sense of warmth, invitation, and even wonder that this film occasionally brings.
Yet again, this film shows Shane Carruth to be one of the most fascinating talents to come out of the indie scene, and sadly with some bad news in regards to Carruth, I don't believe we'll be seeing more of it. But Upstream Color proves to be yet another unique, unusual, and befuddling experience, and one that I would like to experience again.
(Note: I will not be discussing recent allegations that have come out against Mr. Carruth or the debacle that happened on Twitter with him and Amy Seimetz some months ago. I will only be discussing the film and how I felt about it. I want no discussion of it in the comments, there are plenty of other places to talk about it.)
The way that Shane Carruth plays with science fiction trappings is one that continually fascinates me. With Primer, he managed to make time travel into something that could potentially happen, while also noting that it would just as difficult to understand and explain as we could imagine it, and with Upstream Color, he uses mind control and empathic linking to explore the trials and tribulations of human connection and trauma, in all of its messiness and disheveled chaos.
Like Kubrick and Nolan, Carruth finds a way to make these fantastical science fiction tropes that we love somehow feel very real and plausible. His brand of science fiction is the one I prefer: one that makes me think and feel at the same time, and one that keeps me pining for more and keeps me in awe of its inventiveness.
Upstream Color is much more broad in its approach than Primer. At once, it's an esoteric science fiction film, it's a woozy love story in the vein of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Her, and it's a deeply felt and human story about trauma and overcoming it. Upstream Color is certainly more inviting and artistic than his more cold predecessor, though just as befuddling and elusive.
Carruth's style still has that sense of the mundane normalcy that was found in Primer, yet there was a sense of surrealism and disorientation that lurks in the background in this film. I can admire an artist who wants to challenge himself, to push his own boundaries and explore the possibilities of his abilities, and Carruth manages to do so with Upstream Color. I was quite impressed by his use of visual storytelling with the film's near dialogue-less third act, which is a complete contrast to Primer, which relied extensively on its technical dialogue in order for the audience to follow what was going on.
Yet much of the film's power rests on the chemistry of Carruth and his co-star, the lovely Amy Seimetz. There is a simple, yet deeply felt humanity that is found in their characters and their connection with each other. It is their connection and chemistry with each other that drives the film forward, as they begin to realize what's happened to them and as they continue to try and fix their shattered lives in the process. Much of the film's heart comes from their connection to each other and their desire to work through the trauma that they've endured in their lives, not unlike Joel and Clementine's connection in Eternal Sunshine or Theodore and Samantha's in Her.
Another show stealer for me is the music. My mother came in a few times while I was watching it to ask what the hell was going on and what I was watching, because of the constant barrage of ambient music that she could hear in the living room while I was watching it. While I found the music in Primer to be rather forgettable, Upstream Color's score is one that felt important to the narrative as it continued on its track. It adds to the sense of warmth, invitation, and even wonder that this film occasionally brings.
Yet again, this film shows Shane Carruth to be one of the most fascinating talents to come out of the indie scene, and sadly with some bad news in regards to Carruth, I don't believe we'll be seeing more of it. But Upstream Color proves to be yet another unique, unusual, and befuddling experience, and one that I would like to experience again.
(Note: I will not be discussing recent allegations that have come out against Mr. Carruth or the debacle that happened on Twitter with him and Amy Seimetz some months ago. I will only be discussing the film and how I felt about it. I want no discussion of it in the comments, there are plenty of other places to talk about it.)