Primer (2004)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Shane Carruth

Writer:

Shane Carruth (writer)

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

If you always want what you can't have, what do you want when you can have anything?

Plot:

Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.

Plot Keywords:

Garage | Invention | Science | Headphones | Basketball Court

Awards:

2 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Shane Carruth	...	Aaron
David Sullivan	...	Abe
Casey Gooden	...	Robert
Anand Upadhyaya	...	Phillip
Carrie Crawford	...	Kara
Jay Butler	...	Metalshop Worker
John Carruth	...	Man On Couch #1
Juan Tapia	...	Man On Couch #2
Ashley Warren	...	Hostess
Samantha Thomson	...	Rachel Granger
Chip Carruth	...	Thomas Granger
Delaney Price	...	Laney
Jack Pyland	...	Aaron's Co-worker
Keith Bradshaw	...	Clean Room Technician
Ashok Upadhyaya	...	Laboratory Technician

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief language.

Runtime:

77 min | Turkey:73 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-15 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13 | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Addison, Texas, USA

Trivia:

The device in the movie is a person-sized, metal box that hums. One scene features Abe and Aaron standing behind some trees, as they watch themselves enter a U-Haul Storage facility. This scene was filmed in Carrollton, TX (a suburb of Dallas, TX), and in 2005 these trees were cleared to build a Hummer dealership.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the scientist leaves Abe and Aaron alone in the incubation chamber, a crew member's knee is seen at the bottom left of the window of the door.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Aaron: [Sound of a phone ringing. Aaron, voiceover:] Here's what's going to happen. I'm gonna read this, and you're gonna listen, and you're gonna stay on the line. And you're not gonna interrupt, and you're not gonna speak for any reason. Some of this you know. I'm gonna start at the top of the page.
[pause]
Aaron: Meticulous, yes. Methodical, educated; they were these things. Nothing extreme. Like anyone, they varied. There were days of mistakes and laziness and in-fighting, and there were days, good days, when by anyone's judgment they would have to be considered clever. No one would say that what they were doing was complicated. It wouldn't even be considered new, except for maybe in the geological sense. They took from their surroundings what was needed and made of it something more.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 20th IFP Independent Spirit Awards (2005) (TV)

What's worse, thinking you're being paranoid or knowing you should be?

It is rare to find a truly engrossing science fiction film these days. With every film depending more and more on special effects, there are very few sci-fi films influenced by sparse classics like Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972). Though, I suppose, even back then, there was a 4 year wait in between. Aranofsky's Pi is a film I would put in the same class of science fiction as the two aforementioned films, as well as Tetsuo: The Iron Man, in which Pi was heavily influenced by. And now, Primer, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, is another brilliant film that fits nicely into that category.

Primer is mind-bending to the highest degree. The film is packed with esoteric dialogue, mostly between the protagonists Aaron (Shane Carruth) and Abe (David Sullivan). From what I can tell, the film is set during the present time, and the lack of special effects makes everything seem eerily possible. Also, the way the characters cut each other off mid-sentence, something not seem very often in films, adds to the realism of the technical dialogue.

As you can see from the credit listings above, Shane Carruth almost single-handedly made this film, and, as if that's not enough, it was made for a paltry $7,000. The camera-work is reminiscent of Pi and Memento. Its abrasive style perfectly fits the mood and atmosphere of the world within the film. Carruth also realizes the importance and functionality of coloured filters and uses them remarkably.

I believe that's it best to go into this film not knowing too much about it. If you're interested in dialogue-driven science fiction, quantum physics and causality, this is the perfect film for you. Shane Carruth has made an incredible achievement on a shoestring budget. Primer should undoubtedly become a classic and a film that will be often imitated. The intricately twisted time-line will leave you with more questions than answers at the end of the film, so prepare to watch this 2 or 3 times over to grasp everything. Or, at least, pretend to grasp it.