Los Cronocrimenes (2007)

• Tweet
• Email

• Tweet
• Email

He is just the worst barber.

Director Nacho Vigalondo

Stars Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernández, Bárbara Goenaga, Nacho Vigalondo

Things You Might Like

• Very clever script
• Incorporation of scientific principles with storytelling
• An objectively-viewed main character that breaks the mould for lead roles

Things You Might Not Like

• Objectively-viewed main character may not be everyone’s cup of tea
• Weak second act
• Foreseeable ‘surprises’ and ‘twists’

Conclusion
While clever and somewhat unique, the film suffers from a weak middle that begins to tear when stretched too far.

3 out of 5 Curious (Dead) Cats

Jonathan David Lim

***

 Curiosity killed the cat, they say. And yet science is always finding ways to murder said cat, over and over and over again. It’s the way things are done, and the only way we as a species have been able to progress as far as we have. Curiosity, and the indulgence thereof, is not without its dangers. But without risking those dangers, we would never be able to move forward.

Or, in Héctor’s (Karra Elejalde) case, backwards. In time, that is.

While moving into his new home with his wife Clara (Candela Fernández), the middle-aged, balding Héctor spies through his binoculars a couple curiosities: a strange electrical tower off in the distance, and a young girl (Bárbara Goenaga) removing her clothes in the nearby woods. The voyeuristic Héctor, intrigued by his discovery, goes into the woods to investigate, only to be attacked by a strange man in a thick black coat, wearing pink bandages on his head.

Fleeing from his assailant, Héctor happens upon a laboratory (the source of the strange electrical tower), where he meets a scientist (Nacho Vigalondo) who saves him from the bandaged man by placing him in a large metal tank filled with a strange white liquid. Héctor exits the tank moments later, only to discover that he has travelled back in time.

Unlike the infinitely popular Back to the Future, Los Cronocrímenes (or Timecrimes in English) follows an unalterable timeline, sticking with the principle of self-consistency (i.e. one cannot change the past) and causality (i.e. Event A will always precede Event B, which in turn will always take place). It’s clever, really — much more clever than Source Code — and on this basis alone deserves a watch from the discerning science fiction fan.

Aside from the cleverness of it, however, Los Cronocrímenes is a bit weak. The plot, while structurally sound, grows tedious as it stretches into the second act. Vigalondo seems unable to fish the premise out of the its idyllic, high concept waters. While it boasts an intriguing start, the anti-slasher middle bit of the film feels entirely out of place, and will likely leave many viewers frustrated.

One interesting thing to note is Vigalondo’s choice to distance the film from its lead character. We know very little of Héctor, of his life outside the strange time loop in which he finds himself. When we first meet him, it’s through the lens of a camera mounted on Héctor’s car. As he passes in and out of frame, we are given a sense of voyeurism (which is, of course, later mirrored by the character), as if to say ‘This is the guy we’ll be watching,’ rather than ‘This is the guy we’ll be following with vested interest.’ I would like to believe this was deliberate; by the end of the film, it’s hard to feel sympathy for Héctor, as the plot sort of washed over him. He’s the victim of time travel, of science, of curiosity — he’s the cat of our little parable. But Vigalondo won’t allow us to feel sorry for the cat. Héctor is an unwitting test subject, and we are meant to view him as such. With objectivity, rather than deep, interpersonal connection.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that Héctor is but a secondary character, albeit one we see the most often. The primary character, the true protagonist, in this whole affair is the scientist. It is through his experimentation, his meddling with time, that Héctor is put through the trials he endures. He’s the victim of a terrible accident. While this may seem to put the scientist in the role of the villain, it really only means that Héctor is the unlucky bystander of an experiment gone wrong.

It’s unfortunate that the film starts so strongly, only to wind down to a slow halt near the end. It was immensely enjoyable for the first twenty minutes or so. Many of the surprises can be seen very early on, and when they are finally revealed, they come off as laboured and unnecessary. Most everything could have been done simpler, subtler, but instead the director chose to show us the whole picture all at once. Being his first feature, I’m curious to see what else Vigalondo has in store next. But then, we’ve already discussed the fate of the curious.

Buy Cronocrimenes from Amazon