the movieGOOMBA

When I was a kid, I always wondered what my teachers were like outside the classroom. Though I now realize that teachers are just normal people, like you and me, I still wonder about those older teachers; the ones with strange classroom ticks; the ones who dress frumpy, but are always in a coat and tie; the ones who don't ever seem to really enjoy spreading knowledge to the next generation. What do they go home to everyday?

Walter Vale is a white, east coast, university professor with no personality. He's silently pompous, quiet, and introverted. Sent to New York for a conference, he finds that two immigrants have been living in his New York apartment, his second home. Due to his loneliness, or his curiosity, he asks the couple to stay even though they insist on leaving, and from that moment, he forms a connection with these perfect strangers.

The Visitor is whole-heartedly the saddest movie I have ever seen in my entire life. There is a subtle, quiet but unbearable hopelessness in this film that is not obvious or apparent. Its not emotional or somber. But it's so real, and that's what makes The Visitor so tragic. Despite his conservative, white collared background, Walter becomes enthralled with the African drum that Tarek, one of his visitors, plays professionally. Through percussion music and new friendships, he acutally begins living. But then we are struck with how quickly life can be taken away, and Walter, once again, must go at it alone.

This film examines the conventional definition of 'visitor' and prompts the question, "am I a visitor in my own life?" This movie, is so much and so simple. I highly recommend this independent film, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it nominated for an Oscar.