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#164 - Primer
Shane Carruth, 2004
A pair of engineers build a time machine.
I heard that Primer is one of those films that requires multiple viewings to get, so naturally I was not especially enthused with that first viewing (after all the hype about its four-figure budget and unusually hard approach to sci-fi, I was left thinking "Is that it?") I've finally gotten around to re-watching it and, if nothing else, I no longer consider the film a failure simply because I didn't get it at first. Though the nature of the film demands that you pay considerable attention to how its protagonists develop and utilise their particular method of time-traveling (especially as things naturally get more complicated), I've realised now that it's still possible to appreciate the film as a cinematic experience even as it eschews many of the usual plot conventions. One can learn to embrace the zero-budget approach as it results in over-saturated cinematography and suitably unremarkable performances - while those have arguably been sort of improved in Carruth's later film Upstream Color, here these qualities prove pleasantly understated and complement the film's narrative just fine. I don't love Primer, but I can finally feel myself starting to embrace this singularly weird little film and I would not be surprised if it continues to grow on me with each new viewing.
Shane Carruth, 2004
A pair of engineers build a time machine.
I heard that Primer is one of those films that requires multiple viewings to get, so naturally I was not especially enthused with that first viewing (after all the hype about its four-figure budget and unusually hard approach to sci-fi, I was left thinking "Is that it?") I've finally gotten around to re-watching it and, if nothing else, I no longer consider the film a failure simply because I didn't get it at first. Though the nature of the film demands that you pay considerable attention to how its protagonists develop and utilise their particular method of time-traveling (especially as things naturally get more complicated), I've realised now that it's still possible to appreciate the film as a cinematic experience even as it eschews many of the usual plot conventions. One can learn to embrace the zero-budget approach as it results in over-saturated cinematography and suitably unremarkable performances - while those have arguably been sort of improved in Carruth's later film Upstream Color, here these qualities prove pleasantly understated and complement the film's narrative just fine. I don't love Primer, but I can finally feel myself starting to embrace this singularly weird little film and I would not be surprised if it continues to grow on me with each new viewing.