'Arrival' at 10: Denis Villeneuve's alien visitation classic that reminded us it's good to talk
"Denis didn't really see this as an alien invasion movie — more an alien arrival movie," producer Aaron Ryder told SFX magazine.
Key points
- Designed by Carlos Huante, the heptapods themselves are like giant elongated hands, alien visitors light years away from the "Star Trek" tradition of actors with a few ridges glued to their foreheads.
- And with Amy Adams also interested in playing the lead role of linguist Dr Louise Banks, the film that would eventually become "Arrival" was ready to proceed — or, at least, it would be once Villeneuve had completed his first three Hollywood movies, "Prisoners" (2013), "Enemy" (2013) and "Sicario" (2015).
- But in "Arrival" — which was released 10 years ago in November 2016 — making first contact proves to be rather more challenging than maintaining your Duolingo streak.
With 12 alien spaceships arriving simultaneously around the globe, "Arrival"'s poster-friendly elevator pitch could almost have been borrowed from " Independence Day ".
Additional details
- In fact, working out how to establish a dialogue with extraterrestrial visitors becomes the whole point of this powerful and heartbreaking story, as the fate of planet Earth hinges on the interpretation of a single noun.
- The film's journey to the big screen began when a screenwriter best known for his work on horror franchises such as "Final Destination", "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Thing" read a short story in an online magazine.
- The next day, I was like, 'Oh god, I want to give this to other people.'" So when 21 Laps (the production company that later went on to make " Stranger Things ") invited Heisserer to discuss possible future projects, the writer mentioned "Story of Your Life".
- Indeed, the question of whether these whisper-quiet, chocolate button-shaped craft belong to the " Day the Earth Stood Still " / "Close Encounters" friendly extraterrestrial camp, or have the invasion of planet Earth on their minds is a mystery the world's governments are desperate to solve.
- But even though Heisserer's script was not a direct translation of Chiang's tale, he retained the most important bits — namely Dr Banks' efforts to establish a means of communication with seven-legged extraterrestrial heptapods, and the profound effect their language has on her perception of time.
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