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Written and directed by Shane Carruth; starring Shane Carruth. Released to DVD on April 22, 2005. There aren’t many times that I view a movie twice before writing my review of it. The second viewing rarely makes a given film’s comedy funnier, action more amazing or the plot twists more dramatic. Nonetheless, I found it necessary to screen Primer twice before writing this because I didn’t understand it enough to write something prescient and sensible after my first viewing. I sat at my laptop and, while attempting to describe Primer’s plot, had written: "Primer is the story of two men who inadvertently discover _________" And there I stayed, stuck on that sentence because, even though I (sort of) understood what Primer’s two leads had discovered, I had no idea of how their discovery worked or to what end they had used it. Hardly a plot description that readers flock to. So I watched Primer a second time and did a little better at comprehending the nuts and bolts of the film, but remain confused about a number of crucial details and have absolutely no clue why this film was the toast of Sundance 2004. But I’ll be damned if I plan on watching this movie a third time to see if any new revelations occur. Primer is the story of two men who inadvertently discover… time travel. And then travel in time, spending each day traveling forward to the very next day, perpetually doing a 9-5 in tomorrow. This all comes in handy when they decide to play the stock market, reasoning rather correctly that the Security Exchange Commission has yet to rule on the illegalities of that endeavor. Made for a minuscule amount of money–well under $500,000–and without any name talent, Primer is a perfect example, on paper, of that little indie film that could. Touching on the basic principles of the American Dream, writer/director/star Shane Carruth had little filmmaking experience prior to Primer, but through grit, determination, hard work, an unusually original screenplay and a large credit limit, made a film that was accepted at the most prestigious film festival in the United States. And for this, I congratulate Carruth; what aspiring filmmaker doesn’t yearn for this to happen to him? However, as a viewer with no familial ties to Carruth, I found it hard to explain his and Primer’s sudden rise to fame. Shot in part in Carruth’s garage and kitchen and in storage lockers and equally non-descript outdoor office park locations, Primer looked every bit the low-budget independent film. The plot was intriguing–once I understood that there was time-travel involved–but the execution of this was so very frustrating and Carruth’s dialogue so carefully micromanaged to be general that I began to crave something, anything that would clue me in to what the characters were talking about. "Are they talking about a computer?" I wondered, as lead number one attacked a silicon chip with a sodering iron. "Are they chemists?" I wondered, as lead number two poured a smoking, frothing chemical into a bucket. "Are they engineers of some sort?" I wondered as both men combed over a series of flow charts. Sadly, I still am not sure about what the leads were ever discussing or doing, although I did find it fun attempting to try and recreate the film’s obfuscating dialogue later on in the day. "That’s a good point, Dave, but if you apply the principles of Borelli’s theory to the fulcrum of the sin wave it might make the reserve bladder tighter." Just like the majority of exchanges in Primer, my quote sounds like I’m talking about something, but, when broken down, ultimately means nothing. In this respect, Primer reminded me vaguely of Darren Aronofsky’s debut feature, Pi. Both films were cheap, grainy projects that captured the viewer’s attention with a larger-than-life topic (in Pi’s case a formula that predicts the ebb and flow of the stock market) that is dealt with in a very down-to-earth manner; more importantly, neither film really made that much sense after even the most cursory glance. However, unlike Pi, Primer never really made any effort to get the audience to connect with its leads. Not only wasn’t I ever sure what it was that they were doing, it took more than half the movie for me to learn what their names were. All other elements aside, I got increasingly angry as Primer moved on. Exiting the screen room, I wanted to fight somebody; I was in a bad mood and ready to pounce at the least provocation possible. And for once, my review went not with logic, but with my gut feeling: Primer isn’t a bad film, but I hated, hated, hated the experience of viewing it. I can’t necessarily explain this away, especially since dialogue devoid of specific information and a slightly obtuse scripts don’t usually add up to a one-star movie, but this project rubbed me the wrong way for almost the entirety of its running time.
chris neumer |
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