The Visitor - movie

I virtually never watch movies, mostly because so many of them are so terrible. But because my wife previews movies to see if she can use them in various courses she teaches, I happened to see this one. I must say it has helped to restore my faith in the potential of movies. I am surprised such a movie was even made these days. But finsihed in 2007, directed by Thomas McCarthy, no one is raped, stabbed, shot, beaten, tortured, blown up, drowned, poisoned, or kidnapped. There is no violence and no sex. So, you might wonder, what else is there these days?

In this case there is a basically simple story made a bit complicated by the disparate characters, a widowed and bored Professor of Economics (Richard Jenkins), a Syrian musician (Haas Sleiman), his mother (Hiam Abbass), and his young Senegalese wife (Danai Gurira), who creates and sells jewelry in various open markets. The Professor, who has maintained an apartment in New York for many years but has not used it for a long time, returns there to find, much to his surprise, a young couple living (squatting) there. After some initial confusion he befriends them and becomes involved in their lives.

The Professor, whose wife was apparently a fine pianist, has tried to learn to play the piano, has gone through several teachers, but has no talent for it. It turns out, however, that he not only is attracted to African drums (the Djembe), but does have a talent for playing them. His Syrian visitor begins to teach him and he is an eager student. Unfortunately, an incident in the subway results in the arrest of his visitor who is jailed in Queens. Although the Professor attempts to help him, it turns out he is an illegal alien and nothing much can be done for him. While he is imprisoned the Professor is trying to help him, the mother shows up and in spite of his pleas for her to return to Michigan she refuses and is also befriended by the Professor who becomes attracted to her. The young man is deported and in a highly emotional scene the mother confesses she had thrown away a letter she should not have and thus insured his deportation. She vows to go to Syria to be with her son even though it means she can never return to the U.S. or the Professor. You are left to imagine whatever you wish about their future.

What makes this such a wonderful film is not the story or the ending, but the casting and the performances of the actors. Richard Jenkins is superb as the Professor, beginning to find life again with the drums and his commitment to the others (he was nominated for an Oscar). Haas Sleiman is exceptional as the drummer, enthusiastic and eager to teach the Professor how to drum. Danai Gurira, a young Black actress out of NYU, is convincing as the loving but frightened and concerned wife, and Hiam Abbass, an experienced and very sucessful actress is superb as the mother. How this cast comes together and presents a convincing and emotionally powerful performance is almost magical. It is above all a story of human relationships, of love and commitment, and how quickly such relationships can form and grow in intensity. It demonstrates what a good director, a decent script, and a wonderful cast can do even without tons of gunpowder, sleaze, and sex. Although movies are not my genre of either expertise or choice I would highly recommend this one to all.