Review: Upstream Color

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During the production of a short film for a 48 Hour Film Festival I participated in back in April, the friends who were working on the project with me and I agreed wholeheartedly that films should be about the image. The story doesn't have to be strong, the main focus, or even make that much sense as the long as the images are technically and aesthetically pleasing and masterful. Part of the reason why we tended to all agree on this idea may have been that we didn't write anything for the film we were making at the time and working purely off of locations and scenarios that we thought were cool or certain shots that we liked. Through the magical process of editing, the film came together quite nicely and, while not making complete sense or having an obvious structure or narrative, we found most people telling us how they found the rhythm and visuals captivating.

I'm willing to bet Shane Carruth, writer, producer, director, editor, star, and composer of Upstream Color had a similar goal in mind when he made this film. Seemingly lacking in chronology, narrative arc and character motivation and development, Upstream Color dives right into the abstract and bizarre. Some of the early sequences and shots are reminiscent of a sort of David Cronenberg type horror and suspense which leaves the audience grasping for a handhold to reality somewhere but failing to find any. For those familiar with Carruth's first film, Primer, a smart, intricate sci-fi drama, it soon becomes obvious that Carruth is once again relying on the collision of seemingly unrelated scenes that begin to form connections and weave together a compelling, dark mystery.

In the case of Upstream Color, Carruth relies heavily on the abstract. Snippets of images strung together floating freely as the camera jumps from one to the other and the viewer desperately tries to make sense of it all. The effect is dreamlike and it is hard to believe that anything you see on screen is real, is happening, or already happened. Upon its release, many critics quickly compared it to the effect of Terrence Malick's narrative style and films, especially The Tree of Life. The purpose is not to understand exactly what happens, but to rely more on a kind of image-mapping. Even though the abstractness and free-form style of Malick's movies is frustrating and boring for many, Carruth takes it one step further. While unconventional, Malick still retains a coherent plotline, Carruth does not.

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Suffice it to say, this is one of those movies you have to look-up online and read message boards about afterwards. While it seems that Carruth does indeed have an explanation for the plotline and what actually happens as well as themes to draw from it, it is extremely difficult to make all the connections from a single viewing. And while I am generally a proponent of smarter, more abstract films, Upstream Color is a bit too much for me to handle and comes off as being pretentious rather than ambitious. Unlike Malick's auteur sensibilities in effectively communicating deep philosophical themes through visuals, technique, and plot, Carruth's technique does not adequately extrapolate the idea that he alone seems to understand well enough.

However, there is no denying how mesmerizing this film can be. Coupled with Carruth's beautiful, moving original score, the effect is similar to the many scenes filmed underwater in the film. It's like floating or gliding through and array of images that can be striking, uncomfortable, and enrapturing. In this sense, Carruth has expanded and experimented with his technique from Primer and the result is fantastic. Still, he could take a few cues from Malick, someone he obviously admires, and not be too obscure with his subject matter.