Upstream Color

If Carruth’s first film Primer is an intellectual and scientific labyrinth, then Upstream Color is a mesmerizing abstraction of a dream. A complete and total contrast to his previous film. It starts off confusing and mysterious, I didn’t really know what was occurring. As I began to put the pieces together it started to dawn on me that the film is an emotional experience rather than an intellectual one. While the narrative does still make sense it’s not one to be played out sequentially. The non-linear nature of the storytelling emphasizes the emotional immersion rather than the chronology of the plot. Only once the film is complete do you fully see the meaning behind each scene. The seemingly random moments in fact aren’t. There really isn’t anything out there that I’ve seen that captures what this did. It’s almost like a cinematic depiction of an abstract poem, difficult to decipher while also completely comprehended. I wish more were willing to push themselves to create like this. To go where others won’t. Places that are hard to describe. Hard to actualize, and yet are real. To understand is to recognize, to feel is to connect. A slow and abstract dream full of warmth and wonder. Not to be recognized, but connected.