Time Code

Colour, 35mm
USA, 2000, 98 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

This black comedy set in contemporary Los Angeles gives us an inside look into the private lives of four people. Director Mike Figgis decided to challenge traditional ideas of how a film should be constructed by shooting Time Code with four hand-held digital cameras – each in one unedited shot. Four stories take place at the same time, with each character ‘inhabiting’ one of the four quarters of the screen. Thus the viewer must decide whether to follow an extremely miserable producer, played by Stellan SkarsgĆrd, or the woman who wants to divorce him (Saffron Burrows), or a budding actress (Salma Hayek) who longs exclusively for her big break. The fourth character, portrayed by Jeanne Tripplehorn, is an angry woman whose jealousy affects the fate of each of the other characters. The stories soon intertwine, the characters moving from ‘their’ part of the screen to another’s, with only the sound track to help viewers decide which part of the screen they should watch at any given moment.

About the director

Mike Figgis (b. 1948, Carlisle, United Kingdom) started out as a guitarist and trumpet player, playing in several rock bands and in the avant-garde theatre group The People Show. In 1984 he had his directing debut with the television film The House. Next came the jazz-oriented Stormy Monday, followed by Internal Affairs, the sombre thriller Liebestraum, Mr. Jones starring Richad Gere and Lena Olin, and The Browning Version with Albert Finney and Greta Scacchi. Leaving Las Vegas netted Figgis an Oscar nomination (and an Oscar for Nicholas Cage), and for his performance in One Night Stand Wesley Snipes took Best Actor at Venice. An adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie preceded the compelling The Loss of Sexual Innocence, screened last year at Karlovy Vary.