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Released in Spain in October of 2007 by director Nacho Vigalondo, this fast-moving 88-minute
Castilian-language film is a sharp, and smart one. Karra Elejadle stars as middle-aged man
in the Spanish countryside who unwittingly finds himself caught in a paradoxical time
loop, seemingly of his own creation, after he travels several hours back in time to avoid
a dangerous mad man who attacks him. The first act of this film plays out like a seductive
horror film, with something intrinsically fascinating about this average man discovering
something mysterious and bizarre in the woods by his own house. Once the time travel elements
are introduced, and the plot begins to double-back on itself, things stay mostly compressible,
thanks to an expertly penned scripted by Vigalondo; who tackles the concept of causality temporal
paradoxes with near abandon. Under closer scrutiny, I'm not certain "Timecrimes" would
up, luckily, the brisk pace and occasional female nudity help distract from any flaws.
With none of the film's four characters explored beyond a cursory degree, the majority of the
picture rests on Elejalde's convincing performance: who desperately fights to maintain the integrity
of his original timeline, no matter the cost. Humorously, he even forces a cute girl to
disrobe in front of him... because that's how he saw her in the original timeline. A very insular, and almost
claustrophobic think-piece, this movie is presented rather voyeuristically, prohibiting
the audience from understand the full mystery until the end. Visuall speaking, this is a
low-budget festival film shot primarily indoors, and in the woods: with few, if any effects
shots. Not necessarily what you'd expect from a sci-fi action thriller, but it allows the
outstandingly mesmerizing plot to unfold unimpeded. Perhaps too technical for some folks, the
lack of a proper story, strong emotional characters here might turn off many views: but for time
travel buffs, this is a rewarding experience that is unquestionably aided on repeating
screenings. Disregarding conventional story mechanics for a tight, and thought-provoking
script about the nuances and consequences of temporal mechanics, "Timecrimes" is a "Intelligent
temporal mystery with trills." Now for some of your YouTube reviews.
An EIGHT and EIGHT on the rate-o-matic. Of the few of you who have seen this hidden gem,
you really liked it: praising its attention to detail, and time travel theory, you thought
it was GREAT. With each and every plot thread neatly wrapped up, this movie's final act
is a terrific one, even if the beginning is a bit of a confusing horror-mystery mess.
Thematically and structurally similar to other pictures like "Primer", and "Triangle", I
highly recommend "Timecrimes" for all fans of time travel, I thought it was GREAT.