Review of Primer (2004) by Andy B — 01 Dec 2013

Much is being said about the supposed comprehensibility of this film - and whether or not it's all intentional. Filmmaker Shane Carruth is not a career filmmaker (yet) or even a writer. What he does have is a great idea, the ability (or guilelessness) to think he can pull it off, and the smarts to make his weaknesses into his strengths.

The film is shot on a very limited budget, intelligently conceived to make its claustrophobic concept work narratively. The leads don't know what's going on, where they are exactly in time or in relationship to "reality," and half-way through they're (and we're) not sure the "current" one is talking to a "future" one.

His editing strategy (in part demanded by not enough "coverage," Carruth admits) makes much of the plot elliptical, with events referred to in voice-over rather than being played out dramatically in real time, in front of the camera. In a time-travel story in which events have already happened before they are lived through...or are at the mercy of being changed and altered, having them NOT be physically depicted in filmed "reality" helps the viewer to understand time, events, history, are all enigmatic.

Being lost in the narrative may be part of the point.

Carruth does exploit the time-travel paradoxes brought up to create compelling moral dilemmas for his leads. As the plot begins to recurse upon itself, and the characters also, the film could become a puzzle-box of narrative tricks and gimmicks, but actually takes on an emotional drama that keeps the viewer interested, invested, and at attention.

A striking film, well-thought out. The budget constraints, the lack of establishing shots and coverage are all evident. Some filming locations are barely lit at all. The fact that this works at all is a triumph. The fact that the film stays with the viewer, and reveals secrets, tricks, and a design the more one thinks about it, indicates there is a method to the apparent "confusion.".

Carruth could have made it less confusing, but may have sacrificed the film's best strength, the opportunity to allow the viewer to discover the pleasures and design of the film's narrative on his own.