Most science-fiction films are literally “out of this world”—they show us an alternate universe in which the possibilities are beyond our capacity to make real in the world we inhabit in our everyday lives. But Primer, which is a science-fiction film on some level, makes the unbelievable quite believable. It is set in present day and shows us the life of characters that are in many ways ordinary, but they find themselves in an extraordinary situation through an improbable discovery.
What this film lacks in amazing special effects or strangeness that we have come to expect from the science-fiction genre, it makes up for in complexity. Shane Carruth has orchestrated an extremely intricate puzzle for us to solve. The film is difficult to follow because we are only shown just enough clues to be able to infer the rest of the story. It really is an amazing feat of plot structuring because we are continually challenged to think, to make connections between this event and that event.
At the same time, the complexity of the puzzle is not the main idea of the film. Rather, the confusing sequence of events we are shown is meant to reflect a different level of confusion and a deeper level of mystery: what motivates Abe and Aaron to use the machine they have created in the way they decide to use it? How is it that their friendship, the trust they have established, can so easily be broken? What is it about the machine that comes between them?
Now here is your prompt: First, how does this film elevate itself above the time-travel puzzle that we are so desperate to understand? What kind of drama does it offer that will linger in our minds even if we are genius enough to map out all of the events of the story in a way that makes sense? Second, does the mystery of the film go away if we figure out which Abe is which and which Aaron is which? What is the underlying question about humanity that Shane Carruth is exploring in this film?
The time travel storyline feels as old as time itself: ever since man has had the capacity to regret a past mistake or to wonder about the future, people have been speculating about the possibility of controlling the flow of time. Ultimately, control is one thing that comes into play--and, while not directly referenced, becomes a point of contention--in the movie "Primer". The film, though, becomes more than the sum of its parts: whereas Wells' time machine was premised simply on the idea of a hypothetical fourth dimension, and not much beyond that in terms of exposition, Carruth's time machine is built upon a solid foundation of science, with a little bit of make-believe thrown in to pad out the edges. In the same way that the science in the movie is more than just ersatz magic, the plot is more than just an age-old time travel puzzle: it becomes a case study in the limits of the human conscience; how much power does one have to possess before they will completely eschew altruism? It introduces us to two characters, causes us to invest in their friendship, and then deftly rips it apart so that we feel the heartbreak of the disunion as potently as if we were a part of it. Upon second viewing, my stomach fell when I saw the optimism in Aaron's face as he spun the basketball--because I remembered the charm it evoked in me the first time I saw it, only to be betrayed by Aaron himself later in the film.
ReplyDeleteThe mystery of the film essentially revolves around its multi-layered plotline, peeling apart before our eyes faster than we can keep track of it, until we aren't even sure how many peels there are (though we can hear them scratching at the attic door). But, the mystery goes deeper than just, how many Abe's or Aaron's are there, or who was the original, or which Aaron was the instigator: the mystery of the film could be interpreted as a mystery in motivation, or in sincerity. We may eventually be able to decipher which Aaron was the original, but we may never be able to decide when his motivations turned sinister--was it the power that did it, or was he this way all along?