Time Code
Written and Directed by Mike Figgis
starring Saffron Burrows, Salma Hayek, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeanne
Tripplehorn, Xander
Berkeley, Golden Brooks, Holly Hunter, Kyle MacLachlan,
(Laurie Metcalf),
Alessandro Nivola, Julian Sands and Steven Weber
playing exclusively at the Ritz (opens April 28)
* * * (Three Stars)
no
time to read the whole review?
THE
JIST of MY PROSE
Though a really entertaining and apt idea, Figgis
implants too much of his "soapish" madness into the film's generic storyline.
Usually - and in this case too - we can overlook that and delve into the
visual logistics of the whole thing, but it still sticks in my craw that
he has yet to learn that with a good story and a good visual idea
- - - you can have a great film. Worth checking out. Seriously.
En Masse - ‘Time Code’ is a good idea. In
it's entirety - at least following Alex's
(Stellan Skarsgård) unveiling of the film's real atmosphere (I’m
talking self mockery
here!) - the film acts as it's own propaganda : the type of film that
almost begs a second
viewing out of curiosity and fascination rather than admiration and
impression. But,
again, it was a good thing. Not only is ‘Time Code’ immensely entertaining
to watch, but
it’s gimmick, the four-screen simultaneous presentation, is in fact,
the major reason the
film holds our attention so well. Though not discussed outright by
director Figgis, my
take on ‘Time Code’ is that it exists as a film for the generation
that holds the remote
control out to be it's editor. In a medium where cuts, dissolves and
music dictate our
emotions as fervently as trauma and joy - - Figgis gives the audience
a free-hand
decision, one that's neither infuriating nor entirely pleasing, and
asks us to indulge him.
Having shot the film in it's entirety, not using any cuts - it's a
toss-up whether he's merely
throwing the ball into our court, begging us to manipulate his raw
footage randomly, on
our own; or he's simply so moved by his own creation in it's own state
that the conception
has now transcended the final product in such a way that we're not
really editing (or
DECIDING) at all - we're simply downloading a fourfold soap opera into
our
consciousness. Whatever the case (and Figgis believes it is the latter)
may be - ‘Time
Code’ is detached. But, oh, how intriguing it is to watch these relationships
develop -
from the objective audience seat we are inhabiting.
And there's the rub in the perfect plan. In
essence, while giving us a hand in our
own viewing - the plan both works - since I did enjoy being able to
choose which frame I
examined at any give time; but it backfires as well - because those
good old American
viewing and perceiving sensibilities come into focus just long enough
to render all the
material on the screen so completely un-affecting - we're blown into
a strange tizzy of
utter dismay at the disempowering effect the film presents us with,
while all the time
marvelling at beholding four spaces in time as they unfold (even if
they are fabricated).
And above all - the fate lies in the acting
- which is good, but raised into far too
many generic characters. It's not really that this affects what is,
truthfully, a somewhat
generic narrative - but it shows a major flaw in the machine - the
actors who easily
could've erased some of the absurdities of Figgis's story and re-created
them as something
obscure and addictive.
But, in a "here's-a-revolutionary-breakthrough-concept-let's-run-with-it"
situation,
I think my purpose as a critic is rendered somewhat into two parts,
as it were.
On one hand : the film is really brilliant,
conceptually, and a huge payoff for the
technique, which is manipulated with restraint and precision to form
a satisfying
aesthetic - especially what Figgis does with the credits, both opening
and closing. (That’s
your Three and One Half Stars).
On the other hand : the recycled melodrama
(that I loathed in 'Mr. Jones' and 'One
Night Stand') of Figgis, something that is often unintentionally funny
is in bold
opposition to the style. (your Two and One Half Stars)
A Ben Trout soundbite : "If you're going to
do something special, have a good
story or you're doing something less than special". (your Three Stars)
THE TIMECODE WEBSITE
(also worth checking out for that whole pseduo "website-as-filmmaking"
movement)