The Shelf: Arrival
In "Arrival," alien ships have appeared all over Earth. The US government asks linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) to try to communicate with them.
One of the greatest compliments I ever received was as a preschool teacher. I forget what I said, but I used a bigger word than one would typically use with a 4-year-old. One of the dads heard me and said he liked that I used words like that. It is something that has stuck with me a decade later. I still use big words when I speak to my students. I have always felt that exposing them to terms and then defining them for them afterward was what teachers call "best practice."
I also write a lot, so I love language. If I had the mind for it, I would love to study languages and learn more about how words are formed. That is the core of what I love about this movie. It has aliens, but that is not what it is about. I have said it before and will keep saying it: this movie is a love letter to language.
One of my favorite scenes, and one I think about all the time, is when Louise explains why this is more complex than the government wants. The ultimate question they want to ask is, "What is your purpose on Earth?" They need to know if the aliens understand a question, a request for information, that they know the difference between the collective you and a specific you. Building up to that question and understanding their response will take time. It is a quick scene, but it is one of the most crucial in the movie.
With each of the movies on the titular shelf, there is a reason it is there beyond my love of it. The ultimate lesson is why this gets a place of distinction. "Arrival" shows that, while communication is important, understanding is essential in a society. When I watch this movie, it reminds me that, despite all the hate and vitriol that is on the news, the solution is exceedingly simple: we need to learn to understand one another.
"Arrival" has a lot of science fiction elements, but it is accessible. There are sci-fi elements, but it has an incredible story at its core. The performances from Adams and Jeremy Renner are some of the best of their careers, and the movie put director Dennis Villanueva on my radar. Even if you are wary of science fiction, I would recommend "Arrival" because it is as close to perfect as a movie can get.
