Time Travel for Nerds
When I first saw Primer a couple of years ago, it left me dumbstruck for two reasons: it provided an amazingly technical premise to time-travel, giving strict conditions as to how it could work (and giving the most convincing depiction of the concept in a movie ever); that, and it had a profoundly confusing unfolding of events. And it isn’t surprising now, having learned that filmmaker Shane Carruth has had a degree in mathematics and is a total nerd. I could only imagine that guys like these tend to think and conceptualize in nonlinear ways – one of the main reasons I look up to them – and to apply that methodology in an artistic medium such as film… it’s just awesome!
Tonight I watched the movie a second time, and while I cannot claim I finally understood everything, my feeble mind was able to reach a bit further into the story than the last time. It already had that “taste in my mouth”, the reverse-engineered version of “tip of my tongue”. And, having grown a little, knowing a bit more about things (I mean, anything, in general) – I do like to think that I am learning more as I go along in life, otherwise what’s the point right? – the movie came out more entertaining as I saw in the characters a more realistic impression of what it is like to be an engineer (or a PhD student :P).
A couple more viewings and I would nail it. But, not matter, a very helpful timeline of events have already been created, and I am most convinced of its accuracy.
A Village Voice interview also mentions a new film by Shane Carruth. I am particularly interested in his next science fiction concept, which I think resembles works of my favorite author of all time, Stanislaw Lem. I hope he ends up making it.
It is also worth noting that Carruth, with the help of only a couple of friends and family, has almost singlehandedly created the film by himself: script, production, direction, even music. And the movie does not look bad… not bad at all. A nerd indie geek artist. I wish I were friends with him.