You really can’t keep a good Steven Soderbergh down. Supposedly retired from directing after “Behind The Candelabra”, the hyperactive movie-maker is using his time off to lend his name to worthy cinematic projects, and none worthier than “Visitors,” which is to be “presented by” Soderbergh, and for which a new trailer has arrived below.
And what is “Visitors”, you ask? Only the first film in 10 years from Godfrey Reggio, perhaps the most celebrated experimental film-maker around today: his “Qatsi” trilogy (“Koyaanisqatsi,” “Powaqqatsi,” “Naqoyqatsi”) released from 1982 to 2002, is a genre defining, strange and powerful set of wordless, plotless mood pieces about man’s relationship to the planet and to technology. They’re not the easiest films to love, but no one forgets them, and our correspondent felt the very same about “Visitors” when it played at TIFF in September (read our review).
“Visitors” will get a wider release on Valentine’s Day 2014, but until then there’s the trailer to ponder, with its looooooong shots of reacting faces (“reacting to what?” may be exactly the wrong question…) and eerie score by famed experimental musician Philip Glass, and the official synopsis to consider:
Thirty years after Koyaanisqatsi, with support from Philip Glass and Jon Kane, Godfrey Reggio’s portrayal of modern life in Visitors leapfrogs beyond earth-bound filmmakers. Presented by Steven Soderbergh, Visitors offers an experience of technology and transcendental emotionality, taking viewers to the moon and back to confront them with themselves.
as a fan of the Qatsi trilogy and Baraka and Samsara, this one was a big disappointment. way too on the nose.