Posted: 10/28/2004

Primer

(2004)

by Shaun Manning

If hindsight is 20/20, inventors Aaron and Abe have just given themselves perfect vision. In Primer, first-time writer/director/star Shane Carruth explores the implications of short-range time travel in this conceptually ambitious film.

Weekend tinkers Abe (played by David Sullivan) and Aaron (Carruth) have decided to break away from their coalition of inventors to pursue new and exciting projects. When they succeed in creating a device that reduces the mass of any object placed inside, Abe and Aaron believe they’ve finally hit the big time. They don’t immediately see the true significance of their invention, but this will be the revelation that changes their lives: the men have invented a means to travel through time itself. Adam and Aaron meticulously prepare for each journey, using one day’s foreknowledge to reap millions in profits on the stock exchange. One of the men, however, has bigger goals, and will employ the new technology for more and more devious ends.

The first half hour or so prove what even the Slashdot crowd would be hard pressed to deny: the lives of science geeks are really not very exciting to watch. While Aaron and Abe’s experiments may be fascinating in and of themselves, it doesn’t make good film. This excruciating introductory sequence, however, reveals much about the key players and establishes the circumstances of later events. Still, much of the jargon is impenetrable at this early point, and much of the audience will be fidgety at the prospect of another hour of the same.

Primer perks up with the actual discovery, the shocking reveal that Aaron and Abe have accidentally invented a time machine. The explanation is still a bit opaque, but the application is not: Abe introduces his conclusions on his second trip through one day.

As the boys become more ambitious in their chronological joyriding, they become more and more detached from day-to-day experiences and from themselves as individuals. It does not take long for Aaron and Abe to refer to themselves in the third person, making for a shocking juxtaposition when they refer to recent actions as if performed by an entirely different person. Once the paradoxes start rolling in, Aaron is especially conscious that this may be the case quite literally.

The most notable innovation of Primer is that it does not present time travel as something that is easy or convenient. Once the machine is established, Aaron and Abe have to endure a tedious six-hour wait before beginning a jaunt and another six hours once the trip is in process. Yet they’re still eager to make the jump, with increasing frequency. Like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey before it, Primer acknowledges that with adventure comes drudgery.

Primer’s similarities to 2001: A Space Odyssey extend beyond scientific sensibilities and the exploration of unknown frontiers. Shot on Super 16 film, Primer, like 2001, looks like it was created in the seventies. A dull cream-colored tint shading the entire film and quaint sandy texture to the picture give the movie a dated feel, producing uncomfortable contrast with the high-end science content. Also, the voice over sounds as though it may be H.A.L. himself, which was probably not intended.

For a first film, Mr. Carruth could do worse for himself than Sundance champion Primer. While blockbuster-trained crowds will lose interest well before the good times roll, the film rewards careful attention and science buffs will be thrilled to have a movie about them completely devoid of killer robots. Primer is a difficult movie to recommend without a word or two by way of qualifying statements, because a lot of people will hate, hate, hate this movie. For anyone who enjoys thoughtful speculative fiction, however, Primer is an excellent lesson in vaulting ambition and the morality of applied science.

Shaun Manning is a writer living in Chicago.

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