REVIEW: ‘Upstream Color’ (EIFF 2013)

Upon its release in 2004, the film Primer became an instant cult classic.  Its bold attempt to realistically depict just how messy, confusing and potentially dangerous time travel would be won legions of admirers, and despite its miniscule budget and headache-inducing narrative Primer quickly became a critical success.  Fans of so-called ‘hard’ sci-fi waited with baited breath to see what writer/director/actor/composer Shane Carruth would come up with next, and after nine long years have finally been rewarded with the arrival of Upstream Color.  The new film retains much of the feel of its predecessor; the fractured narrative, dreamlike atmosphere and emphasis on the human impact of advanced technology which defined Primer are all present and correct in Upstream Color, but the latter proves itself to be an even more oblique, abstract and spiritual film than Carruth’s debut.

Many elements of the film’s plot are open to interpretation, but the importance of three interconnected storylines is clear:  An unnamed young man (Thiago Martins) discovers a strange blue substance on some plant leaves which, when ingested, exhibits properties of mind-control.  Kris (Amy Seimetz), falls victim to the young man’s use of this substance (here in the form of a plant-fed worm) to control people and ultimately rob them.  Her life now in turmoil, the worm is eventually removed by a mysterious man who lives on a pig farm (Andrew Sensenig), and spends his time sampling natural sounds to make albums of music.  The worm is implanted into one of his pigs, and Kris’ ordeal is seemingly over.  But this is only the beginning of the story.  Only when Kris meets a man (Shane Carruth) who appears to have been through the same strange experience does she slowly begin to piece together her memories of what really happened, and gradually become aware of the lasting effects of the procedure.

The film thus deals with heavy themes of memory, loss and identity, but without collapsing under the weight of them.  Although the viewer is invited to piece together as much as they can, a fully comprehensible narrative structure always remains just out of reach.  This is primarily where Upstream Color differs from the Primer; Carruth’s first film – despite appearances – had a rigidly coherent structure behind the dizzying number of timelines and apparent paradoxes, whereas his new one can be interpreted in a number of different ways.  Key to such interpretation are ambiguities like the true identity of the pig farmer (dubbed “The Sampler” in the film’s credits) and the nature of the connection between the worm’s hosts.  The film might be a religious allegory, a conspiracy thriller or a meditation on destiny and vengeance, such is the extent to which almost every scene appears full of oblique symbolic meaning.  Upstream Color is not obviously science fiction, but has enough of the uncanny about it to make that its easiest categorisation.  Its beauty is not found in precise calculation, but in wholeheartedly embracing the unknown and the unknowable.  Whenever a convenient explanation seems about to present itself, Carruth will cut away to shots of trees and fields, or orchids floating underwater, as if unwilling to set one definitive interpretation in stone.  This aura of mystery seeps into every aspect of the film, including Carruth’s utterly beautiful soundtrack, but doesn’t detract from the powerful emotional impact of the main characters’ plight.  This is thanks in part to Amy Seimetz, whose performance as a damaged, bereft but ultimately dignified victim is truly captivating.  There is a huge amount of beauty to be found in this wonderfully confusing film, and not just in its exquisitely-composed camera shots.  Upstream Color is a triumph which lives up to the promise of Primer without aping it, and confirms that Shane Carruth is a dazzling talent from whom we can expect many more great things.

Upstream Color is showing Saturday 22nd June at 6.55pm (Cineworld), and Sunday 30th June at 7.05pm (Filmhouse).