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Director(s): Tom McCarthy Screenwriter(s): Tom McCarthy Producers: Mary Jane Skalski, Michael London Cinematographer: Oliver Bokelberg Editor: Tom McArdle |
Visitor
Premieres
U.S.A., 2007, 108 mins, Color
Director Tom McCarthy returns to the Festival (The Station Agent won three awards in 2003) with an outstanding sophomore effort, The Visitor, an illuminating and superbly crafted film about how disparate people form familial bonds which inspire an emotional rebirth in a lonely widower.
Walter Vale, an economics professor from suburban Connecticut, has withdrawn from life since his wife died. When he must attend a conference on globalization in Manhattan, he goes home to his seldom-used apartment in the city and frightens a young couple who have been living there illegally, Tarek, a Syrian man, and his lover, Zainab, from Senegal. Seeing that the couple have nowhere else to go, Walter softens and invites them to stay until they sort something out, and a friendship blossoms. One day Tarek has a chance encounter with the police and is immediately detained. Since Zainab cannot visit Tarek at the immigration detention center, she turns to Walter for help. When he decides to assume responsibility for his new friends, Walter begins a journey back toward personal and emotional revival.
McCarthy's simple and precise direction elicits wonderfully nuanced performances from a talented cast led by Richard Jenkins. The Visitor possesses a powerful, yet quiet, grace and establishes McCarthy as a masterful storyteller.
Walter Vale, an economics professor from suburban Connecticut, has withdrawn from life since his wife died. When he must attend a conference on globalization in Manhattan, he goes home to his seldom-used apartment in the city and frightens a young couple who have been living there illegally, Tarek, a Syrian man, and his lover, Zainab, from Senegal. Seeing that the couple have nowhere else to go, Walter softens and invites them to stay until they sort something out, and a friendship blossoms. One day Tarek has a chance encounter with the police and is immediately detained. Since Zainab cannot visit Tarek at the immigration detention center, she turns to Walter for help. When he decides to assume responsibility for his new friends, Walter begins a journey back toward personal and emotional revival.
McCarthy's simple and precise direction elicits wonderfully nuanced performances from a talented cast led by Richard Jenkins. The Visitor possesses a powerful, yet quiet, grace and establishes McCarthy as a masterful storyteller.
Tom McCarthy - The Visitor is Tom McCarthy's follow-up to his critically acclaimed The Station Agent, which won the Audience Award and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. The film also won the BAFTA for best screenplay and two Independent Spirit Awards, including the John Cassavetes Award. The Station Agent won awards at film festivals ranging from San Sebastian to Stockholm, Mexico City, and Aspen and was released commercially by Miramax Films. McCarthy's credits as an actor include Flags of Our Fathers, Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck, and Meet the Parents.
Screenings:
Wed. January 23, 9:30pm, Eccles Theatre, Park City
Thurs. January 24, 8:30am, Prospector Square Theatre, Park City
Fri. January 25, 9:30pm, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, SLC
Wed. January 23, 9:30pm, Eccles Theatre, Park City
Thurs. January 24, 8:30am, Prospector Square Theatre, Park City
Fri. January 25, 9:30pm, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, SLC
Sarah Carragher
mPRm
323-933-3399
scarragher@mprm.com
mPRm
323-933-3399
scarragher@mprm.com
