"Upstream Color": A Glorious, Hypnotic Tale

The first time I ever watched 2001: A Space Odyssey I knew immediately that I had watched something great. What the damn thing meant in a larger sense, I wasn't too sure, but it was great. Years later, I have a better understanding of 2001 and have watched a similarly thought-provoking, beautiful film. Upstream Color is hypnotic, literally as it turns out, and stunning. It's impact lasts long after the final shot. In short, I wish I could watch more movies like this. I wish I could go to festivals and watch an unknown film unfold with the kind of exhilaration that comes from not knowing exactly what's happening next. 

On IMBD, the plot is the following: "A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives." That is the most unhelpful synopses I have ever read. Intriguing, yes, but essentially unhelpful. The film starts with a woman, Kris (Amy Seimetz). She's successful, living by herself, with the normal obligations of a successful person in life. Pretty much, she's normal. However, her world is forever altered when an unknown man drugs her by forcing her to drink an worm-like organism; he takes her back to her home and begins a long hypnosis. Kris is forced to take out a loan and empty her bank account (in addition to performing mind-numbing tasks), and the days upon days of her absence cost her her job. 

Kris' life is destroyed, and she doesn't even remember what happened. She only remembers waking up to her apartment's mess, a scar on her ankle, and a huge loss of time. But life goes on, and so must she. In the middle of her new life, she encounters Jeff (Shane Carruth). The two slowly fall in love, even through all of their eccentricities, for the most part unaware of the deeper bond they share. 

The synopsis above does little to convey the style in which this story is told. The plot unfolds in repeated scenes, overlapping dialogue, huge leaps in time, and parallel stories that are hard to connect at first. In fact, very little dialogue is spoken, only enough to facilitate the scene. After the initial hypnosis, the film feels like how I imagine hypnotism. The mind wanders and questions reality, questions identity, wondering if everything it's experiencing is nothing more than illusions, suggestions, planted there by someone else. 

Upstream Color is study on the nature of free will, on our own capacity to break free when outside forces attempt to control our lives. But it's also a wonderful love story. What's even more impressive is that this film is as effective as it is. Pure cinema at its finest. Indeed, I frequently thought of silent films while watching this one. How joyous it is to watch a film that doesn't feel the need to assault our senses with unnecessary noise. Instead, we can watch a story being told through gestures, through images. Lives unfold this way; memories are stored this way. Upstream Color is emotional and truly hypnotic in its presentation, a wonderful experience overall, and a glorious addition to the science-fiction genre. 2001 has great company.