It’s a couple of hours after I finished watching Upstream
Color, and I’m still not quite what I think or feel about it. My final film at EIFF was probably the most mind-blowing. A sci-fi, sometimes queasy, horror, that
comes off as a mix of drug-induced nightmare and alien abduction (without the
aliens) with no easy answers and a great deal to process.
I am 90% certain that I really liked it, and hope I still
feel that way in a few days. It is
visually arresting, intelligently acted, mesmerising and brain-spinningly
edited. I don’t think I can even hope to
describe the plot although I think I just about followed it. It just would sound too silly typed out in
black and white.
It is certainly a unique vision, starting with what seems
like strange but relatively innocent teenage drug experimentation but then
switching to the drug-and-hypnosis induced nightmare to end all nightmares. (As an aside, if like me, parasites and
people trying to remove them with large kitchen knives freaks you out, take
something to hide your head behind for this section).
Amy Seimetz is terrific playing a woman who has no idea what
has happened to her or how to move forward with her life. It’s an incredible emotional balancing act
and the film could easily have fallen completely apart without her brilliantly
judged performance. The choices of
locations are strange and disorientating, as is the soundtrack, all coming
together to throw the viewer into the air and not provide a safe and comfy
landing.
Now with apologies for some terribly vague description - the film is really evocative of something… a paranoia, a feeling of not being wholly in
control of one’s life, unknown connections, something impossible to quite put
your finger on. It is brilliant at
overwhelming the audience with this uncertainty, at pulling the rug from under
your feet – not just with the storytelling, but with the editing, the pacing,
the camerawork and the score.
I’m really glad I saw it and may be trying to comprehend it
for a few days to come. The fact that I
was totally fascinated by what was going on, rather than put off, makes me feel
that if I do come to understand it, it will stick with me for a long time. I think this is going to be one I have to
watch again, although who knows how many viewings it will take for things to
fall into place.
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