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Dec.12 - Dec.19, 2004 |
An Intellectual Independent Primer
First-time filmmaker Shane Carruth provokes senses with heady and brave feature
By Angela Baldassarre
Originally Published: 2004-12-05
Shane Carruth achieved the perfect dream for an independent filmmaker. In 1999, at the age of 27, and with no film background, he raised $7,000, made a feature, submitted it to the Sundance Festival, and not only got in, but won the Grand Jury Prize. Though not unheard of (Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez managed to do the same), it remains a remarkable feat.
Primer tells the story of two ambitious engineers - Abe (David Sullivan) and Aaron (played by Carruth) - who, while working toward one goal, accidentally stumble onto a different, more profound and disturbing one: the potential for reversing the flow of time within an enclosed space, i.e., time travel. The result forces the two friends to make drastic choices.
Tandem talked to Shane Carruth, 32, when he was in Toronto.
You're an engineer and a mathematician. I'm not. So I have to admit that following the logical process in Primer was not easy. Did you do that on purpose?
"Yeah, you know, my favourite films are the ones where I'll see and I'll feel like I got a core part of the story. If I have to take another look, I'll find that there was more information in there - there was some other stuff going on that I didn't realize. So, I mean, I wanted to make a film that is not, you know, completely simplistic and it's not ever really summed up but the information is in there if people are interested in it. I would hate the fact that people think that I'm trying to make it complicated. I know that the film is difficult - it's difficult for everybody. It's not, you know, high-brow or whatever. I just hope that if people are into that sort of thing - because that's what I'm into - they'll get it."
Don't get me wrong; the film works. I'm just saying that as a viewer I couldn't let up or I'd miss everything...
"That is true, yeah. I've seen people that would walk in like five or six minutes late and then it's like, 'ah, just forget it. I'll come back later, it's too much'."
It's basically a get-rich scheme for the characters, but there's a darkness that comes out in both of them. What happens?
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