The Visitor (2011)
I’m not entirely sure what to make of this film. It was artistic but more like a stick figure than a watercolor.
Synopsis: Cibrâil is a young Turkish policeman living happily with his girlfriend in Berlin. On the surface, it looks perfect but something is causing him to have sleepless nights. When his girlfriend’s attractive male cousin arrives from Rome, Cibrâil is instantly drawn to the handsome, charming visitor. And the restless feelings he has suppressed for years begin to bubble to the surface, setting off a chain of events that will turn everyone’s lives upside down.
Perhaps I missed something or fell asleep, but there are a lot of unanswered questions here. I understand that Cibrâil has some unresolved issues, but it doesn’t really explain his behavior. The part where he goes in and starts smelling his girlfriend’s cousin Marco is a little confounding. He seems unconcerned about his relationship with Christine, and explores his sexuality right under her nose. Yes, he needed to discover who he is, and once he realized that part of himself it was probably too much to handle and do nothing about. Perhaps the exploration in his apartment made him feel safer from what he saw outside.
I didn’t quite understand why he was so attracted to Marco. Granted he was quite good looking, but there didn’t seem to be a connection there. They went running together and talked a little, but I didn’t get how they would have feelings for each other. That part of the story wasn’t developed very well. It also seemed rather inconsiderate of Marco to screw around with his cousin’s boyfriend. Without more development it makes you wonder what kind of people they are.
The acting was a little stiff, and there were too many non-dialogue moments that didn’t really contribute much. Some where well placed and they impressed upon the viewer the helplessness and confusion that Cibrâil felt, but others were just quiet moments. It makes me wonder if this would have been a very good short film.
Production values here are ok, although the constant “zoom in” was a little distracting. For instance, we zoom in on someone’s face or an object, but I don’t see the significance. In other movies we zoom in to see a particular look on a character’s face. Here we just see a face. We’ll give this one a Lifetime movie minus for overall production quality.
Overall, I commend the film for its story and art. I just don’t think it quite made it all the way with either.
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