Primer Review

We finally had another screening in class, which took a while after we watched Breathless. Shane Carruth's Primer was a movie I was interested to see because of the praise it had gotten from Sundance and among audiences and critics alike. The low-budget indie was written and directed by Shane Carruth, and it was interesting to see a film from someone that is making passion projects without all the resources of a Hollywood director. Going in, I knew very little about the film except for the fact that it was sci-fi and it had the same vibe as a Christopher Nolan movie. Memento was also a low-budget film, so I was interested to see if Primer was most similar to that.

The plot follows 4 entrepreneur friends, and their endeavors to produce different machines. This unravels into a time travel movie, in which they find out their device has the unique power to tamper with time, and they must figure out who gets to use it and how they get to use it. The thing that stood out to me the most, within just the first few minutes of the film, was the way that the characters talk to each other. They talk about science and math at a rate that is incomprehensible to a majority of viewers, but they do it in a way that is so engaging. Immediately I thought of the screenwriter Aaron Sorkin as I listened to them talk. The quippy, back and forth dialogue that is most recognizable in The Social Network is all that I could pay attention to. It draws you in and enamors you in a way that covers for the lack of CGI action that isn't possible with an indie. The way they communicate is fast, particular, and every line compliments both the former and the ladder lines. It reminded me of a couple videos I had seen about The Social Network in particular, that talk about the way Sorkin creates 'musical' dialogue. The videos cover how Sorkin made an intricate, rhythmic script that keeps the viewer especially engaged (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SExMi2E4fRI) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IAGH6k17nw). The second video references an interview where Sorkin talks about going to see plays at a very young age and liking the sound or 'the music' of the dialogue even when he didn't understand what was being said. This is the exact way I feel about Primer's intricate dialogue. Even when there is a disconnect between what is being said and what I'm able to process, the tone, repetition, rhythm, and flare that the dialogue carries does just as much as the substance. Both Carruth and Sorkin are some of the most stylistic writers of their generation, in a time where stylistic directors are heavily praised. The inventive writing paves the way for flare when there is limited play to be had in the visual department of the story. While the visuals are limited, Carruth does move the camera in an inventive and dynamic way that keeps the cinematography from feeling static. There aren't many action sequences, but he's is playing with the way he frames a shot the entire time.

Rather than just focusing on the content of ones writing, it is important to think about how it sounds and how it looks. The art in the writing is more than just what is being said, but also how it is being said. I would rate Primer a 7/10, because there are some things that the film suffers from in terms of being a low budget indie, but it is a very solid piece of work with a vast amount of personal flair.