THE VISITOR

Review by M.G. Wood

DVD release: Oct. 7th, 2008 Written and Directed by Tom McCarthy Starring: Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira Overture Films PG-13 brief strong language 1 hour 48 minutes

Stuffy college professor; recently widowed; longs to play a musical instrument.

Walter (Richard Jenkins) leads a sad and lonely life; teaching class; eating lunch at his desk; before going home to an empty house. Once home, Walter listens to classical music, drinks wine, picks at the keys of his dead wife’s piano.

One day, Walter is told he must go to New York City to attend a conference.

Walter once lived in New York, in a modest apartment with his wife. Walter still owns the apartment. And when Walter opens the door to his apartment, it cracks open, as if a seal were broken on an ancient burial tomb. But, to Walter’s surprise, within the darkness and dust of his former home, there are two strangers living.

Tarek (Hazz Slieman) and Zainab (Danai Gurira) are immigrants who have been nesting in Walter’s apartment since he left for Connecticut to teach. After the initial shock of discovering two uninvited guests in his apartment, Walter calmly assesses the situation.

Tarek begs forgiveness and implores with Walter not to take action. Tarek explains, he and his wife Zainab were newly arrived in New York and desperate for a place to live, when they discovered Walter’s place empty. Still somewhat confused and disoriented by the situation, Walter agrees it best for the young couple to leave.

But, as Walter watches the couple struggle to lug their belongings upon their backs, crossing the street, in view from Walter’s lonely window, he makes a quick decision: they can stay until they are able to find their own place.

The next day, Walter comes home to find Tarek playing a djembe (JEM-bay) in his living room. Walter stands mesmerized by the rhythm of the African drum. Tarek apologizes for the racket. Walter insists Tarek continue, expressing his admiration for the young man’s talent. Tarek invites Walter to give it a try. After tapping out a few beats, in the same manner he often used on his wife’s piano, Walter becomes frustrated. Tarek insists he’s doing fine. And in a matter of time, with Tarek’s assistance, Walter finds his instrument.

This is where THE VISITOR could fall into the DRIVING MISS DAISY chain of maudlin melodramas involving a hard-luck caucasian changed forever by a fateful meeting with a person of color. But, Tarek is arrested; and as an illegal immigrant from Syria, held indefinitely. And THE VISITOR turns toward a more intimate, graceful character study about cultural diversity, human emotion, and family.

Tarek’s mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass) arrives from Michigan to find out what’s happened to her son. And while Zainab struggles to go on living, selling her jewelry in the marketplace, Tarek’s heart begins to harden when it becomes less and less sure he will be freed.

Mouna, a beautiful middle-aged woman who pleaded with her son not to come to New York, now suffers from the weight of not knowing Tarek’s fate. Through shared pain and anger, Walter and Mouna become closer and closer.

And this is where I leave you. With lives in the balance.

Much as a character actor like Richard Jenkins can go unnoticed as an artist; as he easily disappears into a character; becomes a part of the mosaic of a film. So too, Walter, a plain nondescript man can pass you by on the street without so much as a passing glance; not knowing the emotional depth and experience that lies within the simplest of men.