Richard Jenkins' performance in "The Visitor" is as controlled as director and screenwriter Thomas McCarthy. Tends to be restrained and solemn, and forbear a little repression. In the past 30 years, Jenkins, who has been working silently, has an amazing resume. Although he has gone through more than 50 films, most of them are supporting roles or super supporting roles (the gym owner in "Burning After Reading", the audience should Impressed), and it wasn't until the sixtieth year that he was able to play the lead role in McCarthy's film "The Uninvited Guest."
This time, the extraordinary acting skills of this "golden male partner" for many years have finally been widely recognized, and it is considered that "there is finally another actor's eyes that can convey such dazzling power since Bette Davis." In the film, Richard Jenkins portrays a lonely university professor, Walter Waller, who has been teaching a subject for 20 years. His wife has long since passed away, and his son works in London. He lives a taciturn and rigid life. There is no passion to speak of, some are just endless burnout, like a pool of stagnant water. Even if he likes classical music, he wants to learn to play the piano to relieve his boredom, but it fails due to lack of talent. Fortunately, he has not given up and continues to find the rhythm of his own life. hope.
Going to New York for an academic seminar, the professor was able to return to his long-lost apartment, so he was surprised to see that there were two more uninvited guests here. Some strangers had already rented his apartment to two foreigners - Syrian youth Tarek and Senegalese girl Isai. As a result, the life of the old professor ushered in some small waves, and then he found that, compared with the piano that his deceased wife was good at, he seemed to be more suitable for the African drum with strong rhythm and full of rhythm, and this drum is the Syrian boy tower. What Rick was good at and taught him.
The narrative structure of the film is very simple and the rhythm is quite slow. Even if there are sudden changes, it continues to diffuse a light and plain tone, especially the comfort and warmth in the details. There is a very endearing scene in the film where Tarek takes the professor to the park to play drums. Compared to the political insularity, the culture is more inclusive and generous. When the professor finally puts down his shyness and joins the side-by-side drumming. When in the ranks, who would criticize his lack of proficiency at first, who would think that adding an old white man in a suit to a group of brown, brunette or dark skin would make the picture seem incongruous? Under the concerted performance of street musicians, in the sweet and dynamic music, people in the park, regardless of skin color, young or old, dance freely. The seemingly inconsistent aura is subtly and happily merged at this moment. , and the old professor's mood also seemed to suddenly open up, and it seemed that he finally realized the joy of life, which was completely different from the old-fashioned restraint in the classroom.
The storyline of the film involves the sensitive issue of illegal immigration in the post-9/11 era. Through the perspective of a busy middle-class old professor, it reveals how harsh and cruel the U.S. immigration policy has become after 9/11. The land suddenly shifted, and the contact information of the immigration center posted on the wall was almost a decoration for anxious relatives and friends, and for most people, there was no way to ask for help. The film selects a few detailed depictions to show the harm that these policies have on people. For example, Tarek, a kind-hearted young man who simply loves music, was originally a good-natured person. His character was also eroded by depression, and he began to roar and speak. For another example, when the black girl Isai first saw the professor, her eyes were full of alertness, as if she was afraid of sudden injury. In the subsequent expression, the audience knew that this skillful girl who was good at making handmade jewelry came to the United States for the first time. At that time, he was detained by the Immigration Bureau for several months, and the guarded eyes were the sequelae.
Unlike many people's misunderstandings and prejudices about the quality of immigrants, Tarek and his mother are both cultivated and polite people. They came to the United States because of an article by their father that led to prison. It is Siam Abbas who plays the mother Mona. She once played a Palestinian widow who fought against her neighbor and a high-ranking Israeli official in "The Lemon Tree". This time, she played a widow again in "The Uninvited Guest". It's just that at the beginning of the show, it gives people a feeling of noble, quiet and measured, which is very different from the temperament in "Lemon Tree".
The reason why this small production film is eye-catching is on the one hand the practical significance of the story itself, and the main reason is that Jenkins' introverted and restrained performance makes this calm film exude a rich and rich sense of layers: in portraying the old When the professor was lonely and desolate, Jenkins only used a rigid expression and tightly pursed mouth to express his increasingly dry heart, eager to change; when he discovered the true meaning of happiness in life, his eyes jumped with looming enthusiasm from time to time. He even changed a pair of glasses to highlight the clarity of his eyes at this time, and more and more unconsciously showed a smile from the heart.
Several of the clips showing the characteristics of the characters were made very delicate by Jenkins. For example, when the professor visited Tarek, he brought him Isai's letter and spread the letter on the glass window so that Tarek could read it. When the professor turned his head away slightly, this humanized subtle movement combined with the silent expression at this time made the audience feel the beautiful and simple side of it. When the professor heard about the sudden change, the always gentle and honest person finally became angry, and he could only ask the clerk who was businesslike. This scene is not only an explosive catharsis of the character, but also a The film is a reflection of reality.
At the end of the film, the professor is still alone, and his life seems to be returning to the past, but there is a small change in the spiritual world. There is an African tambourine next to him, and he finally performs in the subway station selflessly, as if chasing after his own. It is dynamic, and it seems to miss the friends who have returned to their homeland.
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