The Arrival of Wang (2011) Ennio Fantastichini, Francesca Cuttica, Juliet Esey Joseph, Antonello Morroni Movie Review

The Arrival of Wang (2011)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Francesca Cuttica in The Arrival of Wang (2011)

It's a Wang Thang

Interpreter Gaia (Francesca Cuttica) is a busy woman but when she receives a call to do an emergency bit of translating in return for a small fortune she just can't turn it down. But things get strange straight away when she is picked up, blindfolded and taken to a mystery location where she is placed in a dark room where she is asked to translate a detective's questioning to a Mr. Wang. Unsettled not only by the whole need of a blindfold but also the dark room and the detective's aggressive line of questioning Gaia asks to see who it is she is speaking to only to discover that she is in seriously over her head.

Well who ever did the artwork for "The Arrival of Wang" needs to be shot because they ruin the movie. Now in fairness what the cover tells us is actually revealed by about the 20 minute mark as that is when the lights are switched on and Gaia is confronted by the unexpected but it is still annoying that the artists felt the need to give so much away on the cover. And it is also annoying that the movie didn't keep things as they were for more of the movie rather than giving us a reveal just 20 minutes in. In fact I would have been riveted by a movie of Gaia translating this interrogation in the dark, becoming connected to the smooth and kind sounding voice she hears whilst repulsed by the interrogation techniques only to find out the truth right at the end.

But nope as I said a reveal arrives at the 20 minute mark and suddenly "The Arrival of Wang" evolves into a b-movie and one which becomes camp and comical. I suppose if it had gone down this route from the start it might have worked but when it went from mysterious to b-movie it lost the atmosphere which it had so magnificently created. The budget limitations also became apparent when it changed track and that was a shame as good but not spectacular effects spoiled this.

What this all boils down to is that "The Arrival of Wang" could have been a fantastic movie, a clever bit of film making built on good writing but it changes track and whilst still entertaining in a curiously comical sort of way is not the movie I had hoped and not as great as it could have been if it had gone one route or the other.


LATEST REVIEWS