filmbore pick of the week - Upstream Colour

Upstream Colour

Director: Shane Carruth
Screenplay: Shane Carruth
Starring: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins
Year: 2013
Language: English
UK rental release: December 2013

IMDb
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I've been waiting for this film for a long time! For those that saw Shane Carruth's first endeavour into feature length film making, Primer (see my review here) will be aware of his innate ability to twist that melon in your head up, down, left, right and even throw it down a wormhole in time. With a level of anticipation, let's take a peek at film number two shall we?

A thief (newcomer Thiago Martins) harvests his crop. He's busy cleaning his blue orchid plants, drawing the soil out to get to the plethora of maggots burrowing around the roots, of which he then painstakingly separates into living and dead ones...but why?

The man's son knows a little about this. By infusing them into fluid he creates a drug-fuelled beverage that can unite souls. Drinking the juice with friends allows him to influence their movement through dance and Kung-Fu, as if they've been practicing their moves for years.

The thief knows the potential such a creature can bring and wants to experiment with someone. For this isn't just a drug but a parasite, able to induce powerful hypnotic states. Instead of using his discovery for scientific purposes, he takes advantage of this power to take advantage of those unaware; from those he wishes to steal from.

Kris (Amy Seimetz, You're Next, The Killing - TV Series) is a graphic designer, stressed in her work. After a hard day's graft she falls victim to the thief's plot. He knocks her out with a Taser, forcing one of his specially procured maggots down her gullet while she's passed out.

While induced and at the mercy of the parasite she is very susceptible to suggestion. He proposes scenarios and feelings to her to illicit certain responses in order to the get the results he wants. Once she is in a state of absolute delirium, he begins to endorse money out of her, including the equity of her own home.

The Sampler (Andrew Sensenig, Pearl, Paradise Rediscovered), a calm, humble pig farmer, extracts the parasite from Kris following her own, bloody attempt at excising the creature. He doesn't just exorcise the invader though, as he has an agenda of his own. Strangely, he connects the creature to one of his pigs. Once the process is complete, a connection between human and pig is birthed.

Kris awakens, completely lost and incomplete. She has no recollection of the events while under the influence of her biological guest. The subliminal link to her farmed companion begins to consumer her. Her life changes at an encounter with Jeff (Shane Carruth, Primer), who sees Kris regularly on a train and feels a deep connection with her. They seem to sense each other's before they make eye contact; they're weirdly compelled to each other. Maybe this is because they have much more in common than they think...

Upstream Colour is an exercise in the understanding of both influence and control; more poignantly what is like to be at the recipient's end of these forces. It makes us question what truly drives us. Are we at the will of a deeper power controlling us? Or are we just that easy to manipulate?

Some of these themes are addressed more directly in the physical realisation of the invader of the story, through delivering the life cycle of this parasite and all those who depend on it, whether infected or not. This is just one entry into the emblematic world of this picture. There are numerous references and quirks of symbolism throughout the whole piece, whether it be The Sampler's connectivity into all the victim's lives, representing the consistent and unpredictable hand of the puppet master that we feel from time-to-time, or the sporadic but mirrored shots of our characters carrying away boxes, as containers of their lives in transition. These allegories are scattered throughout the whole film, yet even if some of them may not be too obvious they won't spoil your enjoyment of the film thanks to Shane Carruth's incredible attention to detail and his poetic approach to way he spins a yarn.

It's also wonderful to see what Carruth is capable of on a bigger budget, if still modest budget of (reputedly) under $100,000 (Primer cost only $7000!). Unfortunately, Upstream Colour took a measly $400,000 at the box office. Yes, it's a profit, but not fitting when considering the sheer amount of creativity involved and the quality of production too.

With quick, direct editing, each shot is deftly produced, compiled together to build a tapestry of gorgeous, artistic visions, while confidently nurtured for an unusually enjoyable tale. There's a whole banquet of lighting techniques used too, including some interesting lens flaring and with a confident handling of the natural light on offer. It's a good film for those who are fans of hi-def. On Blu-ray, it's so bright and vibrant, at points highlighting the most minute of details.

I also particularly like Carruth's regular use of the colour blue, especially when signifying the link between our leads, illustrating their symbiosis. Even through these film making choices you will notice even more allegorical references, adding extra layers. Some of these more metaphoric scenes, like when The Sampler plays god by sensing through his pigs the connections to their human counterparts, sit within the entire piece as solitary vignettes. They have relevance to the entire picture, of course, but could comfortably sit alone as shorts, purely down to their powerful presence and not just their artistic approach.

Speaking of The Sampler, his character is very provocative. It's absorbing when seeing, in a key scene in the movie, how he collects sounds to draw works and parasites, while creating oddly attractive musical pieces, through the methods of foley. There are delicious moments in this scene too, where the recordings that he takes pair up with the surrounding noises that our two lead characters can hear through their daily working lives. These scenes help to illuminate the stunning sound design at play here, thanks to a team of great audio engineers, and the musical talents of, surprise surprise, Shane Carruth. Is there anything he can't do in the film business? Please, someone give him a big budget to mess around with!

Our leads are great too. The multi-faceted Shane Caruth is an alluring presence as Jeff, equally lost as Kris but with a stronger tent-peg into the lawn of life. While Amy Seimitz as our central character is delectably aloof while still carrying an air of confusion and panic with her at all times. Such a calmly fragile performance is tricky to pull off, yet she handles it so exquisitely.

Her plight is so alien. Coming back to her biological intruder, it's not just the conception of the idea which is unfathomable but the way it's existence is portrayed is frighteningly alluring. The shots of the parasite moving within Kris are creepy, if beautifully realised. It's otherworldly, adding a brief hint of the unexplainable to an already mysterious and unique drama.

When at the pure will of the creature inside her, with no instruction from her captor, in her slumber she manoeuvres in conjunction to the parasite's movement. The camera rolls in unison to her hand, mirroring the affiliated actions demonstrated by the young boys at the start of the film. It's a subtle effect, with soft impact delivering a gently absorbing experience.

You'll be consumed from start to finish. The opening shots highlight the incongruous nature of a being that, ironically, specialises in harmonising living hosts. Then, the final shots of Upstream Colour book end the picture by revealing the power of self awareness. Yet, through all its majestic referencing and journeys through symbiotic beauty, if you strip all of this complexity away you're left with a sweet love story of two lost souls, unable to repel their instincts towards needing one another.

It truly is such an original concept. Even though it's still in the realms of the psychological, it's worlds apart from Primer. Where Primer explore the lengths we would go in order to make the right choices in the name of science, Upstream Colour shows what the science of nature can do if these choices are taken away.

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