Interstellar: 10 Superior Philosophical Sci-Fi Films
3. Upstream Colour
If theres one thing you could never accuse Shane Carruth of being, its a sell out. And if theres one thing you can most certainly accuse him of being is wilfully obtuse. After the surprise cult success of Primer, which he made entirely on his own dime (the budget was a fairly modest $7000), Carruth decided to go all-out with his follow up. Again doing basically everything in the production besides the catering, Upstream Colour is a similarly bizarre and difficult to understand film as Primer, and it takes the philosophical underpinnings of that debut to even stranger and more complicated avenues. The loose "plot" of Upstream Colour, if you can call it that, involves a man and a woman whose lives are forever changed (unbeknownst to them) by a complex parasite which dictates their moods and behaviours. A parasite which later enters its second and third stages of its life cycle, where it inhabits pigs and orchids, but its the first stage thats off most interest to the audience. Carruths Jeff and Amy Seimetzs Kris both struggle to regain their very identities after the experience, and not like, they misplaced their drivers licences. They genuinely have trouble reconciling their very personalities after having seemingly lost them. Thatll mess you up.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
