It’s rare that one gets to see a
film that cost $7,000 but that’s precisely what Primer cost to make. Primer
is a high concept science fiction drama that is heavy on ideas and doesn’t
pander to the mainstream. Using technical dialogue and realistic sounding
science, the movie doesn’t make any attempt to open itself up to the masses or
explain itself in layman’s terms. As a result, Primer is a film that is at times impossible to follow but when
it’s at its best, it’s a film that opens up some and explores some fascinating
ideas about causality, fate, consequence and friendship. Shane Carruth acts
almost as a one man crew with credits as actor, writer, director, producer,
editor and composer.
The plot focuses on the efforts
of four engineers who work for a large corporation but on the side produce
circuit boards which fund their own inventions. Two of the men break off and
develop a strange machine for which a purpose is difficult to ascertain. After
some preliminary tests they discover that a watch placed inside the machine
appears to come out with much more time passing than on the outside. Wary of
the concept and implications of their machine, they keep it a secret but slowly
begin to experiment with its possibilities with strict instructions that causality
must not be affected.
At a time in which mainstream
films often spell everything out for the viewer and dumb down in order to make
themselves as profitable as possible, I really liked the fact that Primer didn’t pretend to be simple. Time
travel is a difficult idea to get around and if it doesn’t make your head hurt
then the film is over simplifying the idea. There are no flux capacitors here.
I understand very little about the science behind Primer and while it might all be nonsense, that’s not the point.
Average Joe (me) is unlikely to understand the science involved in any sort of
time altering machine. The film taps into the work of the fantastic physicist
Richard Feynman, using some of his theories and diagrams to explain its
methods. Much like the film, while I don’t always understand what Feynman is
talking about, I often enjoy attempting to.
Although I think it’s a bold and
admirable decision to avoid dumbing down, it did make for a difficult watch and
I can’t say that I was gripped all the way through. I particularly found the
labyrinthine latter stages almost impregnable and was at a loss to describe
what happened in the final twenty minutes. Primer
strikes me as the sort of film which would benefit multiple viewings but unlike
say Memento, I don’t really want to
revisit the film as it didn’t engage me enough due to the barriers put up by
its science and my own ignorance. When a film demands multiple viewings, it has
to earn the right by being interesting and engaging enough for the viewer to
want to do so. Primer left me so
perplexed at times that I’m not sure I want to spend time watching it again,
even if it is only 77 minutes long. I enjoyed the discussions about causality
much more than its effects and would have preferred a greater portion of the
film was given over to theory rather than theory in action.
Considering the film cost $7,000
it looks pretty good. It’s obvious that it’s very cheap and the camera is
perhaps an area in which more money could have been spent but on the whole it
isn’t a bad looking film. I’ve certainly seen much worse for more money. The
movie was story-boarded to within an inch of its life in order to save on
shooting costs and this is successful in creating several good scenes. The
acting is nothing to write home about but the use of mainly family and friends
means that Carruth gets grounded, realistic performances from his cast and
there is very little in the way of over-acting which is a bonus. The direction
and scene design is done very competently by the first time, almost amateur
director. Occasionally he shoots characters who talk with their back turned to
camera but generally the movie is filled with interesting looking shots and
attractive camera angles. The score is also very accomplished and is again down
to the handiwork of Carruth.
Primer is a film that has much to like. From the fascinating themes
to grounded central ideas and relationships, it’s a film that has a lot going
for it. It’s also a remarkable film debut from its polymath creator Shane Carruth
but unfortunately, it gets muddled in its own science and is so true to its
ideas and wariness of dumbing down that it can be far too puzzling at times and
as a result it’s very difficult to say that I enjoyed it.
6/10
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