Primer

Carruth is not the first débutant film maker who proves that a special film does not have to cost very much money. Myth or not, but the budget for this film was apparently no more than $7,000. With this, Carruth again proves something special, namely that a cheap film does not always have to look cheap. Not that this film looks expensive or polished, but it does look the way it should look. The appearance of the film fits in so seamlessly with the story that a bigger budget would have made the film less. The icy and rather pale image tells an ingenious science-fiction story. The film looks as if it was set at the time of the start-up companies, the time when young computer technicians were able to make a mint on the stock exchange with a single discovery. Aaron (played by Carruth himself), Abe and two friends have started a company like that in a garage. They have even already invented something, but not even they know exactly what. As soon as Aaron and Abe find out that the box they are working on is starting to lead a life of its own, they shut out the other two business partners. They become obsessed by their invention – or is it their invention that is interested in them? The story suggests a level of ingenuity that is seldom seen, even in cinema. Few films, few first films, start so nonchalantly and self-evidently and then end so perfectly and overwhelmingly. (GjZ)