Catching up on the FrightFest season on Film 4 the other night I finally caught the Italian Sci Fi movie The Arrival of Wang.
This was one of those films that I have on y list of films I would like to see, so it was great to see that the film was in the Film 4’s FrightFest season, they also included one of my other favourite “weird” movies, Hobo With A Shotgun, may just bring you a review of that one as well.
The Arrival of Wang UK TV Premier
The film is a little different from most films I’ve been watching lately, there are now doubts that it is one of those movies that you are going to either not enjoy or you’re going to love, for me I really enjoyed it.
Gaia (Francesca Cuttica) is an interpreter, who has a job of subtitling Chinese films for the Italian market, she is called in to a secret location by a mysterious phone call for a highly paid interpreting job, to interpret for Mr Wang.
The alien speaks Chinese as he believes that it is the most used language on the planet and this is where Gaia comes in to the story, being an interpreter, it’s now her job to translate what Wang is saying in response to questions given to him by his “interrogator”, Inspector Curti (Ennio Fantastichini).
What we get with the film is a story based in the interrogation room, as Curti tries to find out the truth from Wang and why he has come to Earth, as Curti tries to delve deeper into the reasons and becomes more vicious with his way of interrogating, you start to feel for how the alien is being treated and this is the side that Gaia takes.
The Arrival of Wang is certainly a film that had me gripped from start to finish, with some superb acting from Francesca Cuttica and Ennio Fantastichini, the special efftects of the alien Wang are nicely done as well, with a creepy design for the alien, kind of like an octopus with legs!
Directors Antonio Manetti and Marco Manetti have done a great job with a film that isn’t an action packed Sci Fi movie, but more of one that makes you think while you watching the performances, and with an ending which does have you sitting there thinking, “I didn’t see that coming”, it will have you pondering over each scene as you watch it.
Not for fans of Sci Fi that is all explosions and laser blasts, but definitely for those of us that like to think about a movie as we watch it and try to work out who is on the right side and the wrong side.
Directed by: Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti
Written by: Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti
Starring: Ennio Fantastichini, Francesca Cuttica, Juliet Esey Joseph
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
