Upstream Color

When I first saw Primer it was the first experience for me where I walked out having no clue what was going on. I had at least a grasp of that plot in a majority of films but with Primer it was a completely different experience. I had to do extensively research and rewatch it few times and I am sure that I still am missing stuff about that movie. That said I was glad to see a movie, especially a sci-fi time travel movie, trust its audience so much and didn't feel the need to explain every single detail of the plot. It is a film that wants you to become engrossed in its world and then figure out all the clues. It was an enriching experience as a cinephile to see a movie challenging me and making me analyze everything instead of being spoon fed everything. Now come to the present and it seems like forever since Primer came out and I know I wasn't the only one dying to see what else filmmaker Shane Carruth, he wrote, directed, editing, and did basically everything on Primer, had up his sleeve of visual storytelling. So it takes 9 years of waiting to see what else Carruth has to bring to cinema and he gives us Upstream Color. 

Upstream Color stars Amy Seimetz as a young woman who finds her life turned upside down but horrific event out of her control. An unknown man comes into her life and takes her savings, house equity, and more while she is powerless. As she tries to rebuild her life after the traumatic events she meets Jeff (Shane Carruth) who seems to have a emotional but also metaphysical connection with her. After times passes the two become close and fall in love with each other but then strange things begin to happen. Memories collide and strange noises come from no where as together they must discover about their past and connection to each other. Meanwhile, a strange man takes care of some very unique pigs.

To go more into the plot, mine wasn't even a good description of the movie, would ruin half of the experience and that is one of the points of Upstream Color. The movie reminded me at times of The Tree Of Life by Terrance Malick because it is more about the experience and your emotional journey than the plot in my opinion. If the movie was about plot it would have been way less abstract than it was. But the movie wants to focus on these two main characters and their relationship more than anything in my opinion. It feels like an exploration of their metaphysical connection through their trials and tribulations. The film also does focus on who I am calling the "Pig" man but doesn't really do much with him. That was a big problem with this movie for me as I felt like I got to know nothing about this man, why he did any of this, or why there was so much focus on him.

Now before I continue it needs to be said that this is a great example of art house cinema. This movie is not at all trying to be entertainment but instead trying to be a piece of art and I commend it for that. As a cinephile I want all movies to achieve the greatness of true art cinema. It is seen here more evidently than in Primer but its obvious that Carruth wants to be taken seriously as an artist and doesn't want to be tied down to the standard rules of cinema. Though at the same time I don't think he is really challenging the rules but really just not following them.

As far as the cinematic side of the film everything looks good here. The cinematography is solid and there weren't many complaints on my side except that maybe an overuse of out of focus. The characters are ok and I wasn't really connected to them. The plot feels way too loose even for art house and I found myself really not caring a lot during the film about what was going on. Even worse I found myself at times not even caring if I understood something, maybe because I knew I was probably never going to know what exactly was happening. As I said before the movie has some cool ideas but I felt like it really didn't do anything with them.

So unfortunately I don't have a lot to say about Upstream Color which makes me sad cause I really wanted to enjoy this movie like I did Primer. Am I saying Upstream Color is a bad movie? No not really I am just saying that it didn't stick with me like most movies do. I could tell it was an attempt to be something above the standard output of Hollywood by trying to reach the level of art but I am not sure it succeeded. It is a cool premise but doesn't really do too much with it. This movie for me is a film that is just there, I don't hate it but I don't love it. That said I would still watch anything Shane Carruth makes without a doubt. Still I like to consider myself a serious critic on film and just because I want to like something doesn't mean I can. So while this movie is better than a majority of the stuff Hollywood pumps out year after year, I must honestly say that I did not care too much for Upstream Color.

2/4