In 1948 Alfred Hitchcock constructed Rope, so that it appeared to be filmed in one long take. Last year Brian DePalma attempted to impress current movie aficionados with a 15-minute long take to begin the lame Snake Eyes. Now we have Mike Figgis (of Leaving Las Vegas fame) topping both DePalma and Hitch by creating 4 simultaneous single take movies of 93 minutes. These are all done digitally in real time and have the characters weave in and out of the four frames.
It's a fascinating concept. There are four hand-held digital cameras that roll simultaneously as the actors improvise a story. The technology behind the film is far more intriguing than the actual story that takes place on screen. It remains to be seen whether multiple screens will become more commonplace in future cinema, but it does seem reasonable that digital camera work will continue to grow in the new millenium. This film establishes the medium as feasible.
Time Code essentially follows the actions and interactions of four people and does so by splitting the screen into four parts. I have been inadvertently preparing for this experimental film the past few months after downloading three separate instant messaging clients. The nights that four individuals message me and require multi-tasking are very much like Time Code.
Many times the stories I get with the instant messengers are much more interesting that the story that Figgis has concocted here. The story focuses around the offices of Red Mullet Productions where Holly Hunter plays an executive, while Alex seems to be falling apart emotionally. His wife is seeing a therapist, as we are let in on snatches of dialogue from her in the upper right hand screen. In the upper left we see Lauren mysteriously letting out the air from a tire, so that she can get her lesbian lover, Rose, into her limousine and slip a listening device into her purse. This allows Lauren to spy on Rose when she auditions for the part.
I could go on and describe more of the pedestrian plot, but there's really not much of a significant story to the piece. Don't go for entertainment purposes and don't go expecting to learn anything significant. The sole purpose for attending Time Code is to check out its artistic merit and decide if this format works.
In this case, I must say that it actually does. I didn't find the four separate screens distracting. Figgis masterfully manipulates the soundtrack so that we focus on one of the four screens; of course, you can choose to "edit" this any way you want on your own. I was far less confused with this film than I am most nights on the computer when messages from Yahoo Messenger, AIM, and ICQ arrive simultaneously.
Time Code is reminiscent of live theater and of live television where they have more than one camera going. I didn't notice any editing cuts throughout the 93-minute film. To accomplish this, Figgis had the actors improvise the scenario 15 different times over a two week period. The film is a result of one of those 15 shoots. Skarsgard probably stands out the most because his character undergoes a meltdown. I was also impressed with Treblehorn, who has to hold the camera's attention throughout most of the 93 minutes by herself. Her scenes that demonstrate her obsession, as she listens intently to her lesbian lover have sex with Alex, were professionally understated.
Overall, I give it a qualified recommendation if you are a true film buff. It's not a terribly compelling story, but it is a fascinating introduction to innovative film technique. I only found myself "zoning out" a couple of times, but I quickly recovered. If you are debating between checking out the this art house flick or the new John Travolta science fiction movie, your time will be much better spent multi-tasking with Time Code.
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