movie review: The Visitor (with lots of spoilers)

I never expected to go see The Visitor and find myself laughing as a stoic older white man in undershirt and boxers beats out a Fela Kuti-inspired rhythm on an African drum. But that's just one of the truly heartwarming scenes in the film, all of which gain richness from the dual experiences of the main character (inarguably named Walter). The tired-out professor is sick of his work and sick of his life, aching to regain rightness after the death of his wife. Initially, he goes about trying to master playing the piano, perhaps thinking that if he takes on something his wife loved, she will stay with him more vividly. But not too far into the film, he encounters two random characters who will change his life and his purpose—and this is the moment we know we're watching a Thomas McCarthy film.

Though perhaps more familiar to you as an actor, I came to appreciate McCarthy as a writer and director when I saw The Station Agent. In that film—which I view as one of the most eloquently crafted I've seen—a lonely, train-enthusiast dwarf inherits a train depot, moves into it, and immediately finds himself being befriended (against his wishes) by a neighboring coffee stand owner, an erratic-driving and -behaving housewife who has lost her son and kicked her husband out of her life, and a rotund, quiet, and beseeching young girl, all of whom seem to have nothing better to do than follow their intriguing new town-mate on his treks along the train tracks. As he begrudgingly accepts their coming along, he eventually finds that he has developed some very warm and intense friendships—and this main theme of the film is one The Visitor also taps into. However, the newer release ties the theme up with less of a sense of serendipity and more one of struggle in the post-9/11 age of aggressive anti-foreigner security.

Every character in The Visitor is a visitor in some way, and it is through at first subtle and later quite unhesitating acts of hospitality that friendships—maybe even family relationships—are born. The quick bonding of strangers is something I enjoy in real life, so it's no surprise that I am moved by it in movies; but The Visitor takes it deeper, putting survival on the line that lies between those who recently were strangers. As these individuals from all reaches of the globe grow close to one another, they are pulled seemingly senselessly apart by the reach of American law enforcement. And that plays an interesting role in the film.

Of course, this is subject matter with fire behind it—probably thousands of foreigners have faced unjust actions in the United States since 9/11. Many Americans have no contact with those people, so it is, to some extent, powerful to have put the different Americas we live in before our eyes. But I would not say that is the singular point of this film. What McCarthy does best is create characters and then ties among them. The role of Walter is one of a quiet, almost sullen man who is struggling with healing himself until he meets an enthusiastic young immigrant who shares with him a passion for music. That the young Tarek is Syrian is irrelevant for much of the film; in the end, the story is about bonding and healing, and the details of it underlie two points: that often others are able to share themselves with us in a way that is uplifting to our own wellbeing, and that the act of our own giving to others is also an act of self-strengthening.

Without the tragic ending, the film would already have achieved a great deal toward these ends. But as the journey toward a looming deportation unfolds, the frustration and eventual anger felt by all involved becomes most acute for our two leading males. Tarek, of course, is terrified. But what I find to be most evocative about the film is the meek-speaking protagonist's final breakdown into loud and gesticulating anger at Tarek's situation—which buds from both his own academic understanding of global interdependencies and from love. He has virtually taken on a new son and a new wife, and this is where I think the film really intends to go—deep into a study of how people grow as individuals through growing toward others. The complaints against the American justice system are justly treated, but the artfulness of the film lies in the bonds created both before and after that comes into play.