There are so many reasons to love Primer, I could go on all day, but for the purposes of this review I will narrow it down to two. First, this is one of the only films I've ever seen that never attempts to "dumb it down" for the audience. There seems to be a consensus among mainstream filmmakers that viewers are lazy and won't respond to complexity. Or, if there is any element of complexity in the plot then it needs to be limited to a couple scenes and explained away later or dwarfed by other elements of the production. I will tell you this, don't expect to understand Primer the first time around. I've now seen it twice and can't wait to see it many more times. Even though it keeps you entertained the first time around, this is a film that requires multiple viewings, and probably outside explanation as well. I certainly don't claim to understand everything that happened, but that doesn't matter. Have fun with slowly unraveling the plot, there are a lot of interesting blogs out there dedicated to explaining what exactly is happening. I'll just say it now, that if you're a lazy viewer who simply wants explanations handed to you then this is not a film for you. But if you have the attention span and are willing to devote the time then this is a very rewarding cinematic experience.
The other thing I'd like to say is that the story that a film tells is not completely limited to your experience while watching it. I love when a film has a great story to tell behind the scenes, when it struggled to survive and made it through obstacles that would doom most other productions. Primer has such a story. It was made on a budget of only $7000 on location around Dallas. The director, Shane Carruth, at the time was an engineer who wrote, directed, starred in, edited, and wrote the score for Primer. Apparently the post-production process was such a burden Carruth wanted to scrap the whole project. All this work was eventually rewarded with the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival and a now devoted following (myself included). It's great to see a lot of hard work and talent be rewarded in this way, and I'm still excited to see what he will do from here on out.
The other thing I'd like to say is that the story that a film tells is not completely limited to your experience while watching it. I love when a film has a great story to tell behind the scenes, when it struggled to survive and made it through obstacles that would doom most other productions. Primer has such a story. It was made on a budget of only $7000 on location around Dallas. The director, Shane Carruth, at the time was an engineer who wrote, directed, starred in, edited, and wrote the score for Primer. Apparently the post-production process was such a burden Carruth wanted to scrap the whole project. All this work was eventually rewarded with the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival and a now devoted following (myself included). It's great to see a lot of hard work and talent be rewarded in this way, and I'm still excited to see what he will do from here on out.
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