IT Movie Club: Upstream Color

C

ChimpPhobiaFilms

Upstream-Color.jpg

Upstream Color is a 2013 experimental/fantasy/science-fiction/romance/thriller film by director Shane Carruth. The film is about a man and woman who are entangled in the life of an ageless organism.

The film can be streamed or ordered on Netflix, and is also available on Google Play for $3.99.

http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Upstream-Color/70265224
https://play.google.com/store/movie...ampaign=ActionAds&pcampaignid=MKTAD0610MO1DAM

On the 23, a week from now, we will be moving onto our next film.

Discuss the movie. Talk about anything. Talk about your interpretation of it, any thoughts you have about it, problems you had with the film, your rating of it, techniques you saw used in it, the cinematography, the soundtrack, why you didn't like it, or how it's an important film because ..., etc. You can post BTS footage, interviews, anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9KmAlrEXU​
 
What did you think of the movie Chimp?

I thought it was beautifully shot but did not get the story - I know it's hugely open to interpretation, but hell that was one confusing storyline.

The visuals, beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cjq_Lb2F2I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--4pZKkyIN0
 
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*SPOILERS*

IndiePaul said:
What did you think of the movie Chimp?
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I loved it. One of my favorites of 2013.

I thought it was beautifully shot but did not get the story - I know it's hugely open to interpretation, but hell that was one confusing storyline.
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I thought the film was about peeling the layers away that make up a person and view someone's true self. The characters begin to explore their darker sides as they are forced to find the source of their anguish and confusion, the maggot. By the end, they've explored their subconscious and throughout we are witnessing their journey as they go deeper.

I loved the visuals too. Carruth got some great images out of the GH2.


I dug the soundtrack too.

fav. track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QYwhrWoLuE
 
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I liked it a lot more on the 2nd viewing. I don't think the story is "confusing" per se, rather there is very little of an actual story. The narrative of this film could have fit nicely in a short, but I think Carruth fills the empty space in this feature with a sort of visual poetry that can be beautiful or tedious, depending on who's watching it.

When I listen to the way he describes the film in 3 distinct acts with his different motivations behind each one, I appreciate the film a little more. No matter how you look at it, the amount of artistic work he personally put into it is an indie filmmaking feat of its own.
 
There's no doubt that technically Upstream Color is a substantial improvement over Primer. The cinematography is more mature and "artistic" and the sound design was also far more proficient. So I liked it then? Nope, I found it a huge disappointment!

While the editing/pacing might be perfect for an audience of cinematographers/photographers it was way, way too slow to hold my interest and I quickly found myself analysing the sound, picture editing and other film arts, just to give me something to do. While good and maybe even excellent considering the equipment he was using (although I wouldn't know and don't really care!), the cinematography was not innovative or special enough to carry the film. The sound design was decent/good by professional standards but again nothing special and not good enough to carry the film.

As an exercise in some of the fimmaking crafts, I'm sure Upstream Color is a great achievement (for a very micro budget production) but as an actual film, it was boring to the point of laborious! Even though it's still tricky to follow, Primer is a way better (more watchable/engaging) film than Upstream Color in my opinion, though it's not as good as an example of those specific filmmaking crafts. I would imagine it's had some great reviews from critics, film festivals, other filmmakers?

G
 
Hmm... just out of curiosity APE, how did you view the film? It's one of those movies that you really have to involve yourself in. Loud sound, big picture. :)

AudioPostExpert said:
I would imagine it's had some great reviews from critics, film festivals, other filmmakers?
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85% on Rotten Tomatoes. "..experimental American cinema at it's finest..".
 
To me, it was very much a film you shouldn't labour over trying to follow the story. You lose yourself in it (and so it helps to see it at a good cinema) and become swept up in the energies and emotions. I personally struggle a lot to engage with most films (I also watch far less films than I should as a result, and some people find it odd that I want to be a filmmaker, but anywho) but Upstream Colour is one of the only films I was able to lose myself in and actually feel engaged with - even though I didn't *get* the story.

(I did go back and figure out the plot more afterwards)
 
cheeseandachallenge said:
To me, it was very much a film you shouldn't labour over trying to follow the story. You lose yourself in it (and so it helps to see it at a good cinema) and become swept up in the energies and emotions. I personally struggle a lot to engage with most films (I also watch far less films than I should as a result, and some people find it odd that I want to be a filmmaker, but anywho) but Upstream Colour is one of the only films I was able to lose myself in and actually feel engaged with - even though I didn't *get* the story.

(I did go back and figure out the plot more afterwards)
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I agree. That's why it's so love it or hate it. You either get swept up in it or you don't. Which I didn't even have to try to get swept up, it just took me on the emotional roller coaster. Sometimes films don't have to have stories, they just have to evoke certain moods and emotions with the tools and talent the filmmaker has :)
 
ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
I agree. That's why it's so love it or hate it. You either get swept up in it or you don't. Which I didn't even have to try to get swept up, it just took me on the emotional roller coaster. Sometimes films don't have to have stories, they just have to evoke certain moods and emotions with the tools and talent the filmmaker has :)
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Indeed. I'm not a huge fan of conventional narrative (in film and other formats) - from the least pretentious sounding position I can give, I just struggle to connect with it. So Upstream Color inspired me and remotivated me and reminded me that I do in fact enjoy films (I hadn't forgotten, it had just been a while since I saw something that I thought more of than "oh yeah, pretty solid").


But I realise people like me are in the minority, and I guess from a purely narrative standpoint it's probably not a strong film. But that didn't matter for me (and if people can let go of that, they might get something from the film too - most people I see giving negative reviews focus too much on the plot, i think - not that that's necessarily wrong).
 
cheeseandachallenge said:
Indeed. I'm not a huge fan of conventional narrative (in film and other formats) - from the least pretentious sounding position I can give, I just struggle to connect with it. So Upstream Color inspired me and remotivated me and reminded me that I do in fact enjoy films (I hadn't forgotten, it had just been a while since I saw something that I thought more of than "oh yeah, pretty solid").
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D@MN HIPSTER! :lol:;)

I agree with you. Sometimes it's nice to in a way just get certain emotions evoked and moods to take over. That's why I loved Upstream Color. It diverges from the normal, which I like.


But I realise people like me are in the minority, and I guess from a purely narrative standpoint it's probably not a strong film. But that didn't matter for me (and if people can let go of that, they might get something from the film too - most people I see giving negative reviews focus too much on the plot, i think - not that that's necessarily wrong).
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I think people should pull their own meanings from films. What did it make you feel? Did it make you think of it? Did you think of any story? People have to activate their brain and imagination to enjoy the film, they have to be involved in the film, and that's another thing I liked about Upstream Color. I felt apart of it, in these characters lives, slowly beginning to ease into this world.
 
ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
Hmm... just out of curiosity APE, how did you view the film? It's one of those movies that you really have to involve yourself in. Loud sound, big picture.
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I saw it on a relatively small screen and in stereo. It was not screened in my part of the world.

cheeseandachallenge said:
...Upstream Colour is one of the only films I was able to lose myself in and actually feel engaged with - even though I didn't *get* the story. (I did go back and figure out the plot more afterwards)
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What was it you were engaged with, if it wasn't the story, the cinematography, music, sound design? ... If there is a story and you didn't get it, isn't that to some degree a failure on the part of the filmmaker?

With Primer, the basic plot, the development of the story and characters was quite sophisticated, as was the pacing and overall shape of the film. Not to say that Primer didn't have some quite severe weaknesses in these and other areas, which made it more difficult to follow and far less dramatic and engaging than it could have been. Nevertheless, for a no budget, first effort, Primer demonstrated huge filmmaking potential in those areas where micro/low budget indie filmmakers tend to struggle the most; pacing and shape. What I was hoping for with Upstream Color was an improvement in execution which allowed that potential to be more fully realised. Instead, it's as if that potential (natural talent) has been completely ignored or didn't even exist, the story/character development is mediocre/poor and the pacing and shape are particularly poor. Emotionally I found it rather mono-tonal, which just exacerbated the poor pacing. Primer was also a little mono-tonal emotionally and was one of the areas I was hoping for improvement.

As a narrative film Upstream Color is in my opinion poor. As a more audio/visual art film, I didn't find it innovative or well enough executed to hold my attention, something like Koyaanisqatsi is in a whole other league for example.

G
 
AudioPostExpert said:
I saw it on a relatively small screen and in stereo. It was not screened in my part of the world.
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Ahhh... that's part of the problem. It's the kind of movie that you really have to experience. The film is really a development of mood and a piece to evoke emotions and put the audience in a trance like state. Hypnotic movie if you can get into it, not really anything great if you can't. Love it or hate it kind of movie. :)
 
AudioPostExpert said:
What was it you were engaged with, if it wasn't the story, the cinematography, music, sound design? ... If there is a story and you didn't get it, isn't that to some degree a failure on the part of the filmmaker?
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Perhaps. But I enjoyed it probably more than any other film viewing experience I've had over the last few years, so does it matter?

That doesn't necessarily make it better, but I certainly got a lot of enjoyment from it
 
Just finished watching it. Loved it. :cool:

Was expecting a more traditional scifi, but no complaints. No roller-coaster on the pacing, but no downtime either. Copious use of small DoF to cover up a lack of background (both people & set design) - things still looked a bit empty at times, but this helped a lot.

I liked this much more than Primer which, while still a cool flick, was overshadowed entirely by the discussions on the merits of what could be done with such a small budget.

Great rec for this week's film. :yes:
 
cheeseandachallenge said:
... I enjoyed it probably more than any other film viewing experience I've had over the last few years, so does it matter?
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From the perspective of someone who enjoyed the film, then "no" would be the answer. But, from the perspective of the filmmaker then I believe it should be of concern. As a micro budget experimental art film I've got no problem with Upstream Color, it's a decent example of the genre IMHO. As a sci-fi drama/thriller, which is what it appears to be marketed as, then I do have a serious problem with it. As a narrative filmmaker, I believe the story, or more importantly how the story is communicated, is of paramount importance and it was as a creator of narrative and of story telling that I personally felt that Carruth demonstrated the most potential as a filmmaker. Maybe Upstream Color also demonstrates potential as an experimental art filmmaker but I was disappointed that it appears to be an "either/or" situation, either experimental art or good narrative. If Carruth had somehow managed to combine his potential/talent for sophisticated story and storytelling with experimental film art then maybe he could have created something truly special with a far wider appeal than mainly just film aficionados/makers.

sfoster said:
Judging by these posts I think I would most likely hate the film :lol:
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Probably, but IMHO that's no reason not to watch it! There are aspects of Upstream Color which are very well executed for a micro budget indie, so there's certainly a lot most lo/no budget filmmakers can learn from it. If you do end up hating it as a viewer, then as a filmmaker you can identify why you hated it and avoid that in your own filmmaking, while still also learning from what was done well (both baring in mind the budget and ignoring it).

I personally didn't like Upstream Color as a viewer and thought that Primer demonstrated potential but still suffered from many of the typical micro/low budget indie failings, which as a viewer made me think overall it was "meh". However, I would recommend all aspiring filmmakers to watch and study both films! IMO, together they tell a very interesting story about the individual film crafts and the philosophy of low/no/micro budget filmmaking itself.

G
 
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