Rent Visitors (2013)

Should be 'live' ? - Visitors review by DF

This is a difficult movie to review because, in a way, it is not a 'movie'. It is the music of Philip Glass together with the visual cinematography which contribute to making this a subjective 'event' rather than an experience of watching a movie in its own right. I understand that the visual part of Visitors, i.e. the movie, was intended and shown as a background to live performances of the music and this I can appreciate. The 'movie' on its own I feel becomes two dimensional without the effect, if you like, of the live orchestral performance. To review Visitors as a movie therefore is problematic. I do like the music of Philip Glass and in that respect I enjoyed Visitors, although my laptop loudspeakers failed miserably to do it justice. The visual aspect of Visitors, as I said becomes two dimensional without the experience of a LIVE performance and it in this respect that a subjective personal experience is lost. The visuals are interesting; a lot of close-up portraits; very minimalist and without any existential context, Other scenes include brutalist architecture, deserted funfairs and landscapes with time-lapse (a bit clichéd?) but all very sombre in the powerful black and white cinematography. If you appreciate the music of Glass (and you have a good sound system) then the DVD is worthwhile and as a bonus there are minimalist visuals to complement the music.