Majestic: The Visitor, the film

Haaz Sleiman, Lebanese actor who played
the role of the djembe teacher,
  Tarek, a total charmer!

I just watched the 2007 film, "The Visitor." All I could do was scribble down immediate thoughts.

Flippin awesome djembe.
Syrian man + Senegalese woman + uptight, depressed professor.
Depression awakens into purpose.
Epiphany.
Freedom.
New York City scenes.
Staten Island Ferry.
Beautiful women.
Charming men.
Stellar writing, acting, and editing.
Walter. There could be no other name.
International economics in the classroom and on the streets.
Twist on academics.
Falafel.
This movie comes to me thanks to a friend who loaned it to me last year saying, "I think you'll like this." (This has happened to me several times lately.)
I finally saw it and she was right, I loved it!
Remembering the time I, while driving our family minivan with the family in tow, mistakenly blew a cop stop while approaching the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and we were pulled over by NYPD.
It was early morning raining, we were sad to leave the family, I seriously did not see the security check point.
We were treated like crap. They made us turn over our vacation video film.
Remembering how I was thankful we weren't Arab, knowing we'd be screwed. We put on our full Minnesota and were OK.
(Later, NYPD sisters, LG and Vivian would tell me that the "bridges and tunnels" section of NYPD have an inferiority complex and that's why they treated us harshly.)
Weird this is all coming up while my family is in NYC. (Our tunnel incident happened in about 2003 or so. Post 911 when everyone was newly crazy looking for terrorists.)
Back to the movie.
Liberty, Statue of Liberty.
Skim milk and red wine.
Subway. Lots of subway.
Love. A love story.
New glasses. Seeing anew.
Insanity of detention.
Tarek.
Music.
"She's so black," said the Syrian mother.
Central Park.
Majestic.
Remembering when Bob and I attended a citizenship ceremony for a friend from Egypt. We all cried when they played that song, "And I'm proud to say I'm American, where at least I know I'm free."
Our friend didn't want other internationals to know she got her citizenship because she didn't want them to feel bad for their own situation.
She had to explain to us how important it was to not make a big deal out of it or even mention it.
Pretend.
Acne.
Equilibrium. They needed each other. There  was no charity.
"It's kind of exciting not to know."
"I think that happens a lot in New York."
Economics.
Queens. Dreary.
Power and the powerless.
Who is the visitor?
Ice.
Cold. Cold hearted. Cold stone. Stoned human beings.
Blue eyes.
Deportation = death.
"That's all the information that I have."
Hardened heart feels something.
Courage.
Intimacy.
"You forget.You think that you really belong."
Did I say flippen awesome djembe?
Broadway Lafayette. I used to pass through here twice a day.
Not enough Tarek. Haaz Sleiman is an incredible actor.
Cambodian hammered dulcimer. Remembering this exact instrument with Mr. Bun and Cambodian choir at  Christ Church in St. Paul.
Richard Jenkins. Incredible character actor. Nominated for 2009 Academy Award for this role.
Female lead, Danai Gurira, was born in Grinnell, Iowa, to parents from Zimbabwe. Went to Macalester in St. Paul (love that school) and got her MFA at New York University. (Just cool, all the connections.)
I wanted it to end happily.
I wouldn't have cared if it was simple and cliche.
I hope you'll watch it. Here's the trailer: