From the director of Primer, Upstream Color

missingtime · 04-12-2012 09:40PM #1

Early this week we learned that the latest film from the creator of Primer would be premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, and now we're getting our first real look at Shane Carruth's Upstream Color. Descriptions of the movie have been intriguingly vague — "A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism" — and there's not a lot of additional specifics here. What we do get is a sense of slowly building dread, and some brief glimpses at what could very well be the ageless organism in question. Check it out below

.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/4/3727968/watch-this-teaser-upstream-color-shane-carruth-primer#130902473

I havent watched it as I'm a bit psycho when it comes to spoilers, but I was a huge fan of Primer and will be looking forward to this immensely.

Antar Bolaeisk · 04-12-2012 09:43PM

Trailer is quite vague, don't think it would spoil anything. Will definitely try and catch this as well, Primer was excellent.

Mickeroo · 04-12-2012 09:45PM

Embed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdYO3KWmcv8

Pretty vague alright, but fairly unsettling too. Should be an interesting one.

johnny_ultimate · 04-12-2012 09:57PM

It's looking like a good Sundance this year all in all - they certainly seem to be putting a lot of effort into promoting it compared to previous years. Plenty of interesting directors presenting their new films. Shane Carruth's second feature is undoubtedly exciting, but particularly looking forward to Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess.

rossy1044 · 05-12-2012 01:38PM

Looking forward to this one as I loved Primer. I wonder if the plot will be any simpler to this to try appeal to a larger audience.

johnny_ultimate · 22-01-2013 07:09PM

Wish I was in Sundance this year, some seriously interesting films being screened. Upstream Color received its premiere yesterday, and the reviews are extremely encouraging. Particularly enthused by this quote from the Hollywood Reporter:

All this will seem profound to some and mean nothing to those who never got algebra. As far as audiences are concerned, Upstream Colors certainly is something to see if you’re into brilliant technique, expressive editing, oblique storytelling, obscuritanist speculative fiction or discovering a significant new actress. Tastes running to anything even slightly more conventional should stick with what they know.

Bring it on

Goldstein · 25-01-2013 02:50AM

rossy1044 wrote: »

Looking forward to this one as I loved Primer. I wonder if the plot will be any simpler to this to try appeal to a larger audience.

A fringe sci-fi/romantic/thriller film being described as Terrence Malick meets Trent Reznor suggests we're leaving any notions of simplicity and mass appeal well behind us for this one - the lone exception to that being the spelling of colour

. It seems to be provoking just the right degree of devisiveness and garnering rosy reviews from such places as to elevate it to "must see" status.

Can't find any word of a release date outside of the US yet short of taking a trip to the Berlin Film Festival in February.

Rabidlamb · 25-01-2013 10:55AM

Primer was cack nonsense, people use it as a superiority stick, believe it raises their intellectual currency but truly it was nonsensical **** masquerading as smart film.
Don't bother showing me that diagram either cause that makes even less sense.
I see it as a con to expose faux intellectuals, perhaps that was the true intention.

missingtime · 25-01-2013 11:00AM

Article from The Verge. I havent read it yet, there could be spoilers....

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/22/3903524/upstream-color-review-shane-carruth-sundance

Matt_Trakker · 25-01-2013 11:04AM

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Primer was cack nonsense, people use it as a superiority stick, believe it raises their intellectual currency but truly it was nonsensical **** masquerading as smart film.
Don't bother showing me that diagram either cause that makes even less sense.
I see it as a con to expose faux intellectuals, perhaps that was the true intention.

You remind me of the time I saw The Wrestler and at the end some young lad in a green and white hoped soccer jersey hopped out of his seat and shouted, 'that was bleedin' sh!te, there was hardly any fookin wrestlin in it' :pac:
Needless the say, the cinema roared laughing and he left, happy as larry, thinking we were all laughing with him.

Rabidlamb · 25-01-2013 12:07PM

Matt_Trakker wrote: »

You remind me of the time I saw The Wrestler and at the end some young lad in a green and white hoped soccer jersey hopped out of his seat and shouted, 'that was bleedin' sh!te, there was hardly any fookin wrestlin in it' :pac:
Needless the say, the cinema roared laughing and he left, happy as larry, thinking we were all laughing with him.

You remind me someone trying to sound intelligent . . . trying.

If it made you happy so be it but I appreciate & applaud someone like David Lynch who goes out of his way to make surreal nonsense as an art form in itself.

johnny_ultimate · 25-01-2013 01:54PM

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Primer was cack nonsense, people use it as a superiority stick, believe it raises their intellectual currency but truly it was nonsensical **** masquerading as smart film.
Don't bother showing me that diagram either cause that makes even less sense.
I see it as a con to expose faux intellectuals, perhaps that was the true intention.

You know you can express your dislike for a film without having to blindly insult everyone who happened to like it.

missingtime · 25-01-2013 01:58PM

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Primer was cack nonsense, people use it as a superiority stick, believe it raises their intellectual currency but truly it was nonsensical **** masquerading as smart film.
Don't bother showing me that diagram either cause that makes even less sense.
I see it as a con to expose faux intellectuals, perhaps that was the true intention.

Ironically enough it made me feel very dumb.

Sad Professor · 25-01-2013 02:00PM

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

You know you can express your dislike for a film without having to blindly insult everyone who happened to like it.

This probably needs to be added to the charter.

Rabidlamb · 25-01-2013 03:07PM

Sad Professor wrote: »

This probably needs to be added to the charter.

Ah jaysus don't go rewriting the rule book over me.
It didn't get it, I researched it online & still didn't get it, there seemed to be no consensus on the timelines on how many iterations of each character were created.
I came to the conclusion that the whole thing was a ruse, a very clever one, to initiate debate & see if some people would take the bait.
Those who think they understand the pattern can scoff at those who don't get it but all behind it all the creators can laugh from above.
For that reason I'm out.

e_e · 26-01-2013 12:24AM

You don't need to understand a film to enjoy it! A film can be pure experience and while I didn't even come close to getting Primer on my first viewing it was nonetheless a memorable and interesting sit.

krudler · 26-01-2013 05:12AM

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Ah jaysus don't go rewriting the rule book over me.
It didn't get it, I researched it online & still didn't get it, there seemed to be no consensus on the timelines on how many iterations of each character were created.
I came to the conclusion that the whole thing was a ruse, a very clever one, to initiate debate & see if some people would take the bait.
Those who think they understand the pattern can scoff at those who don't get it but all behind it all the creators can laugh from above.
For that reason I'm out.

There's your problem.

Goldstein · 26-01-2013 05:22AM

Noone knew what the hell was going on the first time they watched Primer. Getting the principle of what's happening and enjoying the ride as the knots become ever more complicated is what's fun about Primer. Whether you get lost on the 3rd or the 9th timeline on the 1st or 5th time you watch it doesn't really matter - it's like when you're playing Tetris and at a certain stage the blocks just start falling so fast that eventually noone can keep up. One of the lasting impressions it leaves is that time travel can get messy - so messy that eventually noone would be able to understand what was happening. Triangle and Timecrimes employ similar overlaid loop tactics to tell their stories just in a less interwoven fashion. And even if the logic doesn't hold up to years of forensic analysis by milions of people, it's nonetheless a hell of an effort and one of the most impressively complex plots any of us have ever seen. I don't fully comprehend how there can be 11 spacial dimensions but that doesn't mean there aren't; and perhaps those that subscribe to that theory are off the mark too. But I can still be amazed by grasping the idea of a 5th. Similarly, I don't think people love Primer because they think they understand everything, they love it because they don't.

Tipsy McSwagger · 26-01-2013 10:23AM

Watched Primer yesterday on Netflix and its the first film where I was reading the IMDB synopsis along with it on the iPad. I still couldn't understand what the hell was going on.

Rabidlamb · 26-01-2013 02:03PM

krudler wrote: »

There's your problem.

Did you ?.

krudler · 26-01-2013 03:09PM

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Did you ?.

Nope, not the first time, but thats why I watched it multiple times, and it rewards that, same as The Prestige

Sad Professor · 26-01-2013 04:01PM

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Ah jaysus don't go rewriting the rule book over me.
It didn't get it, I researched it online & still didn't get it, there seemed to be no consensus on the timelines on how many iterations of each character were created.
I came to the conclusion that the whole thing was a ruse, a very clever one, to initiate debate & see if some people would take the bait.
Those who think they understand the pattern can scoff at those who don't get it but all behind it all the creators can laugh from above.
For that reason I'm out.

That's fair enough. I didn't like it either. I found its impenetrable plot, amateurish production values and humourless performances boring and almost unbearable to watch. Nobody cares that you didn't like the film or didn't get it. What everyone is responding to is the insulting manner in which you dismissed everybody else's opinion, describing them as "faux-intellectuals" who are only pretending to like the film.

Rabidlamb · 27-01-2013 01:34PM

krudler wrote: »

Nope, not the first time, but thats why I watched it multiple times, and it rewards that, same as The Prestige

The Prestige is one of my all time favourites, top 10 for me.
Primer couldn't be further apart on my scale.

Rabidlamb · 27-01-2013 01:41PM

Sad Professor wrote: »

That's fair enough. I didn't like it either. I found its impenetrable plot, amateurish production values and humourless performances boring and almost unbearable to watch. Nobody cares that you didn't like the film or didn't get it. What everyone is responding to is the insulting manner in which you dismissed everybody else's opinion, describing them as "faux-intellectuals" who are only pretending to like the film.

That's probably why I have avoided TDKR thread, I was obviously shown a wind up pisstake reel of that film such was it's crassness & lazy plot holes.
I wonder what the good version is like cause most people who saw that seem to think it's one of the best films ever made.

Anyway, I appreciate that some people may have got more out of Primer than me, all art is subjective anyway.
I apologise to those I offended, lets just say I don't see what they see.

FlashD · 27-01-2013 03:27PM

Wow! Only caught this thread today. Thanks to the OP for heads up.

Big fan of 'Primer', hard to believe it was made in 2004, thats nearly 10 years ago! Ithink it is one of the most interesting films about time travel. If 'Upstream Color' is as good (the trailer does seem darkly interesting), I guess I can look forward to the next film from Shane Carruth in 2021-2022. :pac:

Rabidlamb · 26-04-2013 08:42AM

I see Upstream Colour has hit the popular channels yesterday, US DVD release date is May 7th.
The reviews are very positive http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/upstream_color/
I was the one who raged against Primer but like a sucker I'm intrigued to see this.

conorhal · 26-04-2013 01:19PM

Sad Professor wrote: »

That's fair enough. I didn't like it either. I found its impenetrable plot, amateurish production values and humourless performances boring and almost unbearable to watch. Nobody cares that you didn't like the film or didn't get it. What everyone is responding to is the insulting manner in which you dismissed everybody else's opinion, describing them as "faux-intellectuals" who are only pretending to like the film.

I was quite captivated by the film on my first (and even second, compulsory WTF? viewing) but the charm wore off when I realised that any attempt to unpick the logic of the narrative falls asunder when you realise that the director has been deliberately obtuse and witholding of any clues to a coherent narrative.
Perhaps a director like Fincher could have gotten away with this, but as you say, the amaturish production values and humourless performances make it a chore and, sorry, but one for the club of tokers and tech nerds that like to sit about arguing about Star Trek time travel episodes in the manner that the Jesuits liked to argue about the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin.

That said, I'm intregued to see his sophmore movie, hopefully he doesn't pull a Richard Kelly and prove the emperor truly has no clothes.

FlashD · 26-04-2013 02:56PM

Is this getting an irish release date? Had a check but no info.

Bipolar Joe · 26-04-2013 11:08PM

I thought Primer had phenomenal production values, given its tiny budget and the fact that it was done by one guy! I really don't see how it could have been better in that regard.

Goldstein · 26-04-2013 11:26PM

Have to laugh at the "amateurish production values" comments about a film whose total budget was $7,000.

johnny_ultimate · 27-04-2013 12:26AM

The fact that Carruth meticulously planned each scene in advance so he could shoot on expensive film stock is really impressive too. I actually think Primer has an incredibly atmospheric, moody visual signature that perfectly complements the claustrophobic, gritty feel of the film. And while it is undoubtedly a complex & unforgiving plot, second time around I felt I had a much better grasp on the film's grand scheme and a majority of the content began making a good degree of sense. The twistier, more mind-boggling content is fully justified too - since the characters get lost in this insanely convoluted, space/time jumping situation, it's only appropriate that we, the audience, also experience the dizzying effects of an increasingly unstable experiment. What better way to illustrate the mind**** of theoretical time and dimension hopping than showing it in a suitably complicated way?

I look forward to Upstream Colour, will definitely give it a gander sooner rather than later!

From the director of Primer, Upstream Color

Comments