Athlone Film Club continues its autumn/winter season on November 24 with The Visitor (USA 2007 ) a heartfelt, humanistic drama that deftly explores identity, immigration, and other major post- 9/11 issues.
In a world of six billion people it only takes one to change your life. Director Tom McCarthy poignantly portrays the story of a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor (Richard Jenkins ) whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City.
Sixty-two-year-old Walter Vale (Jenkins ) is sleepwalking through his life. Having lost his passion for teaching and writing, he fills the void by unsuccessfully trying to learn to play classical piano. When his college sends him to Manhattan to attend a conference, Walter is surprised to find a young couple has taken up residence in his apartment. Victims of a real estate scam, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman ), a Syrian man, and Zainab (Danai Gurira ), his Senegalese girlfriend, have nowhere else to go. In the first of a series of tests of the heart, Walter reluctantly allows the couple to stay with him.
Touched by his kindness, Tarek, a talented musician, insists on teaching the aging academic to play the African drum. The instrument’s exuberant rhythms revitalize Walter’s faltering spirit and open his eyes to a vibrant world of local jazz clubs and Central Park drum circles. As the friendship between the two men deepens, the differences in culture, age and temperament fall away.
After being stopped by police in the subway, Tarek is arrested as an undocumented citizen and held for deportation. As his situation turns desperate, Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friend with a passion he thought he had long ago lost. When Tarek’s beautiful mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass ) arrives unexpectedly in search of her son, the professor’s personal commitment develops into an unlikely romance.
And it’s through these new-found connections with these virtual strangers that Walter is awakened to a new world and a new life Alongside McCarthy's tender treatment of strangers who would never meet, except for chance forming a human bond, The Visitor is a chilling view of life for immigrants who have the bad luck of being caught by law enforcement.
Don’t miss this heartfelt, often funny film. The Visitor will be screened in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Tuesday November 24 at 8pm. Temporary membership for the night is only €7.
For more information email [email protected] or check out the club’s website www.athlonefilmclub.com
