Time Crimes

Original and ingeniously basic Sci-Fi premise full of suspense and intrigue .This freaky and clever film chronicles fear, suspicion,desperation, paranoia of a person named Hector ( Karra Elejalde) , he is a middle-aged ordinary man who has just moved to a lonely house with his wife Clara (Candela Fernández). Hector watches that he believes to be a naked girl in the forest . He decides to go there just to find that same girl (Bárbara Goenaga) laying on a rock. Later on , he finds a stranger (Nacho Vigalondo) in a Kafkaesque room presided by a mysterious machine . Hector accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences . He attempts to survive the deadly trap which guard the room and takes place several twisted situations .

The picture succeeds because the thriller ,tension , plot twists , suspense, as well as a superbly written script delving into the starring paranoia in such extreme situation and his instinctive urge for survival . Despite low budget the movie manages to be intelligent, intriguing and thrilling . The good thing about this film is that the director made it on a shoestring budget only having to do a few sets , yet the movie works on many levels but is constantly reconfigured . Casting is frankly well giving fine performances , though little known with exception of the veteran Karra Elejalde . Good cinematography by Flabio Martinez Labiano , excellent cameraman of ¨Unknown , Day of Beast , Perlita Durango , 800 bullets¨ , among others ; he's Alex De La Iglesia's usual photographer. It was filmed in Solares , Cabezon De La Sal , Cantabria, Nacho Vigalondo's birthplace . This motion picture relatively cheap is tautly written and directed by Nacho Gabilondo in his first movie because he is usually writer for television and shorts filmmaker , has has only directed another film titled ¨Extraterrestre¨. This is without a doubt a thought-provoking and mysterious film to be liked for Science-Fictiona and suspense fans, turning out to be one of the most original Spanish movies of the last years .

"Timecrimes" was a movie I almost didn't see. It seemed interesting, but since "Primer" I wasn't sure if I wanted to wrap my mind around another time travel movie. The director, Nacho Vigalondo told us this was his world premiere and he was very nervous giving his introduction. After about 90 minutes, I realized my second movie at Fantastic Fest 2007 may be the best one I see all week. "Timecrimes" was an engaging movie that is easy to follow, despite it's complex plot. I would hate to give away even the smallest of details, the title says everything you need to know. Even though I felt like I was in the driver's seat the whole movie, there were still surprises throughout that kept things interesting until the closing credits. The journey taken by Hector (Karra Elejalde) develops his character beautifully, and he is complimented by a small and effective cast. It would be a crime if this movie doesn't get the distribution it deserves. The Q&A afterward revealed some interesting behind the scenes stories and some info that made me want to see the movie again. Fortunately the buzz from our half full screening was enough to sell out the second screening at the festival. The film won Best Picture at Fantastic Fest 2007, was the Silver Medal winner for Audience Favorite, and was the highest rated film at the festival. If you get a chance to see this movie, DO IT!!

***UPDATE*** "Timecrimes" has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures.

"Time is a storm in which we are all lost." William Carlos Williams

"Time flies around here," says Hector's (Karra Elejalde) girl friend before time gets warped maliciously when he goes back in a time machine for about an hour. The ironic statement could as well apply to this intelligent sci fi, Time Crimes, that actually tries to show what confusion will reign if we ever do time travel.

While this Spanish thriller is reminiscent of Memento's playing with time and memory and various other time travel fictions, it lacks psycho-philosophical depth (notwithstanding the Hitchcock relevance of the hero using binoculars to see a fetching lass). Even more, character exploration is secondary to the puzzle of time traveling. The film, concerned with the tricky interplay of cause and effect in the travel, could have given more to the ethical-humanistic implications of voyeurism and bending nature to our will.

Its atmosphere is creepy enough, a black and white effect from muted color, a semi-real world where appearance and reality collide, not unlike this time-bound life itself without the machine. Its heroine, a beautiful nude played by Barbara Goenaga, suggests those Freudian chambers of our hearts where desire and violence seem only a door opening or time change away.

In an age of "system restore," where we can set our computers back in time, altering the continuum to expunge viruses and such makes the premise of Timecrimes seem almost possible. The ramifications from our computer restore are usually saving time and money; from a time machine may come a chance to upset the balance of nature, to throw ourselves into a primitive state of lawlessness. At least that's how writer director Nacho Vigalondo sees it, and his film theorizes.

Nice to have a thoughtful movie these days.

This movie proves what Hollywood does not practice. A great movie (like this one) does not need: famous name actors, good-looking/sexy protagonists, stupendous sets, expensive special effects, gratuitous violence, & violent shocks to be a successful, entertaining, and provocative movie, which this is in every respect. All it needs is good writing, capable direction, plausibility in terms of premises and plot turns, and decent acting. This has it all. And it's a great movie. The actors are all average looking. The sets look like a normal environment. The special effects are nothing special at all. And yet, there is not a dull moment in this extraordinarily good film. Saw it at the Cleveland International Film Festival this year. It stood out from the crowd as an exceptional film

One of the common issues with time-travel movies is that they are filled with holes in the story, things that you never get to know how happened or why they did happened in the first place.

This movie is perfect in that sense, the plot is squared and every small detail has a meaningful reason to exist so in a way is mathematically perfect.. Which leaves you with a rewarding feeling but on the other hand if you understand the plot you can solve the mystery 3/4 down the movie and the last minutes are just obvious.

But this is a great movie.. Thats why it leaves you wondering what would it had been if the plot were more ambitious and more factors had been involved in the equation. Perhaps more characters and more interaction between them.. Who knows! You just want more!