UPSTREAM COLOR written and directed by Shane Carruth, with Amy Seimetz, Carruth, Thiago Martins and Andrew Sensenig. Self-distributed. 96 minutes. Opens Friday (April 12). For venues and times, see listings. Rating: NNNNN
Nine years after Primer, writer/director/producer/star Shane Carruth returns with an even more complex tale of identity and destiny, presented as an impressionistic, emotionally fraught study of two people drawn to one another by a series of circumstances beyond their comprehension.
After being brainwashed with some sort of insect larva and compelled to give a thief her life’s savings, Kris (Amy Seimetz) is left rootless and shattered. She eventually finds comfort with a disgraced banker (Carruth) who may have had a similar experience. And then things get really strange.
Though the characters are lost and afraid, the movie is assured and confident. Carruth makes the multi-layered story flow easily, using fluid editing to let us see the connections between apparently unrelated characters and keeping dialogue to a minimum.
It’s an impressionistic, emotionally loaded work of art, and one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.
