Walter Tarek's Deportation Scene

I will be analysing the film “The Visitor” directed by Tom McCarthy. The film is about a middle aged American man named Walter, who finds two refugees in his apartment. Walter forms a bond with them, as Tarek the male teaches him the drums. When Tarek is arrested we see what Walter does to help Tarek and his mother Moana. The scene that I will analysis for this report is Tarek’s deportation in which we see when Walter learns of Tarek’s fate and how he reacts to it. The aspects I will be looking at are costume, dialogue, camera work and music.
The first aspects I will look at is costume. During the scene we can see that Walter is wearing a white shirt with a brown jacket and dark trousers. We can also see the corrections officers in their white
It starts off as a quiet instrumental piece that consists of a low drone note played on a bass with a high pitched long note playing occasionally. These higher notes are the closest thing to a melody in the piece however it would not be typically considered a melody as there is no melodic contour, but is the line that catches the listener’s attention most. The tempo of the piece is quite slow, and has a thin texture as it consists of around three instruments. The piece is repetitive with little to no variation only changing the regularity of the high-pitched notes to match the mood of the scene. The lower notes help to create a sense of foreboding, it adds suspense drawing the audience into the scene, investing in it. The high notes make the whole scene feel quite anxious and unnerving. It helps the audience to feel Walters fear and worry for Tarek. When it is revealed that Tarek has been deported the high notes increase in regularity mirroring Walters panic and shock. The volume of the music, specifically the higher notes, gradually increases in volume when Walter become angry, this adds impact to his words and reactions, further allowing the audience to feel what Walter is feeling and experiencing. When Moana comes in the music has a decrescendo, this shows us that Walter is calmed by her presence. The music in this scene acts as an aural clue to help the audience understand how the
They show us that Walter cares for Tarek, that Tarek has changed Walters life, Walters character development from an old man who cared about nothing to someone who loves life. It also helps to show that the government of America does not care about refugees. This film came out 10 years ago, but it still relevant to today’s world. Currently hundreds of refugees are leaving Syria every day, to try and have a better life for themselves than is offered to them in their war stricken country. They risk everything to cross the Mediterranean, and many die in the crossing. Every one of them is a person with interests and people who love them and a favourite colour. They are humans just the same as everyone else and yet the current President of the USA, Donald Trump, is trying to ban them, to bar them from even the chance of a better life. This travel ban as he is calling it is ripping families apart and ruining lives, but it does not affect the big guys, the politicians and the businessmen and so they do not care. It shows that even though it has been 10 years nothing has changed, we have not improved and refugees seeking help and asylum are still being refused and dehumanized. I believe that McCarthy was trying to show the plight of a regular refugees little did he know that it would still relate to us now and in fact the situation would be worse. He humanizes