I vividly remember the first time I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey – the glorious confusion, being swept away by a rush of information which is more to be felt than processed. This spirit is alive and well in the work of Shane Carruth, the uncompromising auteur behind time travel curio Primer. His new film, Upstream Colour defies any kind of generic classification and at times is giddily obtuse but despite its obscurity, it has a precision of intent that demands our attention.
Amy Seimetz stars as Kris. One evening, she is accosted by a man known only as the Thief and force-fed an organism which alters her behaviour, making her zombie-like and open to suggestion. In this malleable state, the Thief persuades her to sign over her worldly goods to him, before leaving her alone, penniless and confused in her apartment. Soon after, Kris meets a man called Jeff (Carruth) on her commute to work and the pair are immediately drawn to each other, perhaps sharing the same traumatic experience in their past.
These are the salient points of the plot but the narrative arc is by no means clear-cut. Carruth uses repetition of sound, dialogue and images along with a scatter-shot approach to editing to create something truly unique. Characters hover on the periphery, obliquely hinting at an industry behind the growth and propagation of the organism used against Kris. We are given enough information to be curious but never enough to have our curiosity satisfied. It is to Carruth’s credit then, that Upstream Colour never feels pretentious or impenetrable. Instead it is deliciously intriguing, like a crossword puzzle waiting to be solved.
Unlike a crossword puzzle though, there are no definitive answers to slot in. This is a film very much open to interpretation and one which will be read in many different ways – as an environmental parable, a study on the nature of memory or even as a tale of boy meets girl. Whatever your take on Upstream Colour, it is still a beautifully crafted conundrum.