Like "The Tree of Life", "Upstream Color" is probably better described as a collection of magnified, highly stylized impressions with next to no logically pursuable narrative line and should come with a corresponding warning sign (accusations of pretentiousness will no doubt be loud). Unlike Terrence Malick's elusive, meditative drama, however, writer/director/lead actor/editor/composer Shane Carruth has actually devised a plot for this sci-fi thriller/ apocalyptic love story- albeit an obscured, fragmented, greatly abstractified one- to support, reinforce, justify all that splendor displayed on screen. So as extreme close-ups of piglets, worms, microscopic lifeforms and cellular activities glow in all sorts of hypnotic hues, that cryptic but unmistakable undercurrent of evil and the main characters' need to break free would steadily feed your discomfort and challenge you to think harder.
Even without the promise of answers, this movie still works as its visual and aural elements are charged with such dazzling energy and infused with such furious beauty together they form a cinematic experience that connects on an instinctual level. Watching it you get carried away by a sensual overload of bold, crisp images and insanely rich and detailed, textured sounds so finely tuned and synchronized it could only come from a singular, magnificent vision.
Uncompromising, mystifying, overwhelming, this movie blinds the brain and absorbs the mind, it's the best movie I saw at this year's Berlinale.
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