Primer: what happened?

July 19, 2005 10:31 AM

I saw Primer on the weekend. I really liked it, but uh… what happened? [Spoiler inside (I hope)]
posted by timeistight to Media & Arts (13 answers total)

Holy crap I've been dying to know the answer to this too. From what I can surmise, they had a problem hiding all the 'alternate selves' that arose from all those time shifts. That's about the extent of what I could get out of the end. The rest of it I'm completely lost on, as far as what exactly happened after they found that guy's dad driving around. Can't wait for some better answers here.
posted by spicynuts at 10:46 AM on July 19, 2005

Best answer: This will either explain things perfectly or give you a headache. As for me, i'm gonna take some excedrin.
posted by freudianslipper at 10:54 AM on July 19, 2005

I'm totally in the dark too. I just decided to enjoy it as it was.

I saw it in the theatre. Did you watch it on DVD? Were there any extras on the DVD that shed any light?
posted by matildaben at 10:55 AM on July 19, 2005

Sorry I don't have any answers for you either, but wanted to say I also watched this in the past few days, and I'm just as lost. Glad it wasn't just me.
posted by CJB at 10:57 AM on July 19, 2005

Response by poster: Did you watch it on DVD? Were there any extras on the DVD that shed any light?

There was a director's commentary, but I didn't listen. I just read a pre-DVD interview with Shane Carruth where he kind of debates whether he should explain the story. He also claims that there is an explanation – he's not just screwing with the audience.

I'm not sure what else there was on the DVD. I wanted to watch it again, but I had to return it. Guess I should rent it again.
posted by timeistight at 11:20 AM on July 19, 2005

The official site has a forum with endless discussion/debate on this topic. Seems like the key is to watch the film a few times. No thanks.
posted by stevil at 11:22 AM on July 19, 2005

What happens when you put a time machine in a time machine? I really don't know either, but I like thinking about it.
posted by tiamat at 11:22 AM on July 19, 2005

One hell of a clever movie. I rented it twice, watching it the second time after reading some of the comments on the official web site's (see previous comments in this thread) forum. It was only slightly less confusing on the second watch, but the second time did clue me in even more on how sneaky both of the fellows actually were compared to the self they were portraying to the other fellow.

I was also interested by color treatment as a way to attempt to keep up with the timeline. I gave up trying to follow it, but some scenes seem to be tinted more blue-ish and some scenes are more yellow-ish. Some seem slightly more grainy than others, as well. Kudos to the director, who shot the whole thing for $7000.
posted by dontrockwobble at 11:27 AM on July 19, 2005

So refreshing to see a movie that wasn't afraid to pile on the overlaping timelines! I was in awe the entire second half.

I watched another good time travel movie -- The Jacket -- last night that took the opposite path, just one very simple loop, but it was used to good effect.
posted by clord at 11:52 AM on July 19, 2005

Best answer: Yeah, check out the forum on the official site. It's the first thing I visited on the web after watching the movie.
posted by exhilaration at 12:27 PM on July 19, 2005

I wish someone had made a visual representation using omnigraffle or some other outlining aid.

oh lazyweb...
posted by mecran01 at 12:40 PM on July 19, 2005

Someone already asked this question.
posted by euphorb at 4:29 PM on July 19, 2005

Damn that movie was awesome.
posted by graventy at 12:39 PM on July 20, 2005