As our countdown continues,Catherine Shoard heralds, in joint third place, or Denis Villeneuve’s emotionally bruising sci-fi which saw aliens – nearly – land on soil
• More on the best culture of 2016Of all the appalling injustices exacted by the Golden Globe nominations earlier this week (wot,no Kate Beckinsale?! Aaron Taylor-Johnson for Nocturnal Animals not Michael Shannon?!) the lack of nominations for Arrival seemed among the most baffling. Granted the two it did pick up were in the areas in which Denis Villeneuve’s cerebral sci-fi shines the brightest: Amy Adams’s leading role, plus the score. But still. Really no recognition for Eric Heisserer’s extraordinary screenplay (adapted from Ted Chiang’s account of Your Life)? The direction? Or just for being a damn fine drama?
Arrival is a film for which prejudices about the genre, and qualms about the premise (Adams is a linguist who translates for newly landed aliens),might have had you lowering your expectations. You come out with intellect blown, nails absent and tissue supply severely depleted. Yes, and it’s set among space beasties,but it is a film absolutely about the human condition, about how we choose who to esteem and how to esteem them.
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Source: theguardian.com