Timecrimes (2007)

The original Spanish title of this movie is Los Cronocrímenes, so it will not shock you to know that this is a Spanish film about time travel! It's also directed by Nacho Vigalondo, whose 2017 movie Colossal is one I will not shut up about.
Hector sees a woman undressing in the woods, goes after her, gets attacked and then takes refuge in a time machine. If you've watched any amount of movies concerning time travel, you’ll be able to see where that’s heading.
Thankfully it doesn’t attempt to unravel too much philosophy in the way that time travel movies can, and it doesn’t get wrapped up in itself - it goes for a route that allows you to enjoy it without frustration, contrary to movies like Looper (which notably made me want to throw things afterwards). While it doesn’t break any new ground, it does do a good job with the framework that exists. The build starts slow but the strengths lie in the way new layers are revealed to the same story. The atmosphere is distinctly left-of-centre in a way that feels just right for such a simple but strange movie. I really appreciated watching such a small scale drama turn into something bigger while maintaining this same sense of claustrophobia. It has a timelessness and universality to it that makes watching it ten years on with English subtitles never really feels like a strange experience.
I did find it to be just a little too bland to ever really catch me in the same way that the only time travel movies I’ve loved have. I’ve never been a huge fan of the idea in movies, because it’s so often a gimmick that is either poorly executed or used in place of proper characterization of plot. Here, I felt that character is what got lost, and that with a deeper sense of Hector’s character (despite Karra Elejalde’s best efforts!), I might have enjoyed it more. I appreciated the visual style and the directorial flair where it was evident, and I’m happy to say it was a fine movie, but it’s definitely not something I’d consider my thing or something I’d return to. 
Rating: 6/10 - Look: if you adore time travel movies, you’re going to love this. I’ve only found a very select few that I love, none of which I can name without ruining them, because I tend to enjoy time travel when it’s a device used to create a sense of psychological distress and suspense. For me, this just wasn’t that. Not bad by any means, but not my thing. 
Go buy Colossal when it drops on DVD.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Apparently  Hocus Pocus  is like…a big thing for people in my generation? I hadn’t seen it before, corrected by my friends on a decidedly eclectic movie night.  It’s - look, it’s something else. I think most of the love for it depends on a great deal of nostalgia, which was obviously absent from my viewing - I understood it, but I didn’t have childhood ties to it. It’s extraordinarily campy, which is fun, and Sarah Jessica Parker has truly never reached the same heights as she did in this. Bette Midler heaves the movie on her shoulders and gives it a heightened surreality that it needed to keep it from just veering into ridiculous unhinged levels beyond enjoyability. Any movie that relies this much on child acting is going to be hit and miss, though, and the teenagers are pretty rough to watch as they attempt to save the town from three returned-from-the-”dead” witches. There’s a younger sister character whose actress outdoes everyone else and is very nearly the highli...
Read more

200 Degrees (2017)

After a brief flirtation with serious pop cultural critique, I'm back to reviewing the horror movie rubbish that no one else has seen (and for good reason). What better way to settle into that niche than to watch one of the many hundreds of Saw copycats on the market? It's my own personal white noise. Saw itself is one of the most problematic and ideologically iffy film franchises around with one of the best first movies, and I'm unapologetically hyped for the next movie to come out. The ripoffs, however, are...something.  In my time watching blatant Saw ripoffs, I have seen some utter garbage. Even I, the most dedicated terrible movie watcher, could not sit through the monotony and bad acting of 2011's Vile . I struggled through 2006 Thai thriller 13 Beloved , even when it made me near gag, or 2014's Circle , even though I nearly fell asleep . Over time, I've enjoyed the occasional movie in this specific set up: I didn't mind the divisive Would You Ra...
Read more

2017 in Film: Favourites, Letdowns and Reflections

It's the end of the year, and the film snobs of the world are reflecting on their years in pop culture. As one of the gang - now with my very own bogus DMCA notice! - I figured I would jump on in. Of course, there are lots of caveats to that. I live in Australia, where several of the last quarter films with award potential have their wide release withheld til the next year. I don't go to previews, with the exception of the occasional rubbish horror movie, and I am not drawn to a lot of wide release movies. Dunkirk ? More like...um... done-urgh . A lot of it is to do with my exhaustion with male narratives and a lot of the industry's treatment of women and anything non white or heterosexual, both real and in fiction. I love the art form, but it's been a tough year for trying to avoid content that would make me extremely angry in a very real way. As mentioned previously, I haven't seen any new releases - it's been the busiest time of the year in my sector - so ...
Read more