The Arrival of Wang marks the arrival of an intelligent sci-fi and of the Manetti Brothers (Marco and Antonio) as filmmakers to watch out for. This ET for grown-ups sees a young translator being hired by the Italian secret service to oversee the interrogation of an extra-terrestrial caught making what could be a bomb in a suburban house in Rome.
If aliens did come to Earth, what language would they speak? Sci-fi films have always assumed they would speak English, but the fact Chinese Mandarin is the most spoken language on Earth (1.12 billion at last count), it makes sense.
The first half of this film plays like a tense political thriller along the lines of Marathon Man. More used to doing subtitles for Asian gangster thrillers, the translator (Francesca Cuttica) is shocked by the interrogators increasingly hostile handling on the situation. Securely bound, Wang certainly looks harmless enough (he reminded me of a Silurian from Doctor Who) and his answers to the interrogator questions seem truthful. But does he have a silver tongue to go with his silver skin?
What follows may not be as keenly observed as the film’s earlier scenes, but it does end with a real power keg of a climax. This is sci-fi at its most inventive, and anyone studying Chinese Mandarin will want to take note: the delivery here is impeccable.
Released on DVD 12 November 2012 through Saffron Hill/Peccadillo Pictures Check out the official Facebook page (click here)
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