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.
For those prepared to go with the abstraction, Upstream Color is a rewarding and mind-blowing experience.
With no clarifying exposition, Carruth has the confidence to let the film’s haunting imagery draw in the curious; their reward is a lush, deeply felt, very modern exploration of the need to find genuine connections in a cruel and (very) unusual world.
How to sum up? You have to make synapse-spark connections, interpret events to your own satisfaction, pick up visual cues (a long stretch of the film is dialogue-free) and be happy with not knowing all the answers (you know, like in life — but not in most motion pictures). A perfectly judged, strikingly beautiful film, but also a lunatic enterprise which invites — even welcomes — befuddlement as much as wonder. A true original.
It’s beautifully made and quite hypnotic but please don’t ask me what it all means.
If you enjoy bewilderment, please go.
There's a valid criticism to be made of Carruth's refusal of narrative resolution; a frustrating sense that the film goes down some of the less interesting avenues that it opens up in the fascinating first half. But his storytelling ambition, his fierce independence (he wrote, directed, produced, scored, shot, edited, acted in, and – in the US – distributed it himself), and his faith in the audience, are fully commendable.
The film that messes with your head isn't necessarily an unpleasant experience – for sure, much of Shane Carruth's second feature, following his enigmatic debut Primer (2004), is actually quite beautiful, and with some concentration you may even make a little sense of it.
This flawed, experimental, fascinating film.
With no clarifying exposition, Carruth has the confidence to let the film’s haunting imagery draw in the curious; their reward is a lush, deeply felt, very modern exploration of the need to find genuine connections in a cruel and (very) unusual world.
Upstream Colour has the makings of a cult movie, though it's not a cult I feel inclined to join.
In 90 glorious minutes, Carruth goes on a search for the meaning of life, love, nature and the whole bit.
Upstream Colour: what on earth does it mean? *SPOILERS*
Niki Boyle, Eddie Harrison and Gail Tolley, The List, 28/08/2013
Shane Carruth on enigmatic sci-fi Upstream Colour
Inside the mind of Shane Carruth
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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