The Visitor (2008 film)
| The Visitor | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Tom McCarthy |
| Produced by |
Mary Jane Skalski Michael London |
| Written by | Tom McCarthy |
| Starring |
Richard Jenkins Hiam Abbass Haaz Sleiman Danai Gurira |
| Music by | Jan A. P. Kaczmarek |
| Cinematography | Oliver Bokelberg |
| Edited by | Tom McArdle |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Overture Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English French Arabic Romanian |
| Budget | $4 million |
| Box office | $18,078,175 |
The Visitor is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Tom McCarthy and produced by Michael London and Mary Jane Skalski. Executive producers were Jeff Skoll and Omar Amanat. The screenplay focuses on a lonely man in late middle age whose life changes when he is forced to face issues relating to identity, immigration, and cross-cultural communication in post-9/11 New York City.
For The Visitor, McCarthy won the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Director, while Richard Jenkins was nominated for Best Actor in the 2009 Academy Awards.
Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) is a widowed Connecticut College economics professor who lives a fairly solitary existence. He fills his days by sometimes taking piano lessons in an effort to emulate his late wife, a classical concert pianist, and infrequently works on a new book. When he is asked to present a paper at an academic conference at New York University, he is not enthusiastic to make the trip, given he is only the nominal co-author and has never even read the complete work. Charles (Michael Cumpsty), his department head, insists and Walter is forced to attend.
When he arrives in his old apartment in Manhattan, Walter is startled to find a young unmarried couple living there, having rented it from a swindler who claimed it was his. Tarek is an immigrant from Syria (Haaz Sleiman), a Palestinian-Syriandjembe player, and Zainab (Danai Gurira) is a Senegalese designer of ethnic jewelry. He later discovers both are illegal immigrants. Although they have no place to go, they hastily pack and leave, but Walter decides to let them stay. Over the next few days, a friendship slowly develops. Tarek teaches Walter to play the drum, and the two men join a group of others at a regular drum circle in Central Park.
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