Luna and Diego work at the parking lot as security guards. Diego does the night shift and Luna works by day. They see each other everyday, but don’t really talk, except typical: “Whats up?”. One day the situation changes by a chance. Luna and Diego start to communicate on a different level.
By means of visual language the director tries to make the movie as realistic as possible. Natural shooting style, cutting and unnoticeable transitions give the feature a sense of rhythm and realistic pace. The combination of cold walls, vivid colours and bright light of the parking lot is softened by the appearance of dancers, which introduce a touch of warmth into the scene.
There is something relaxing in the way the movie is edited. Especially the dancing sequences have a smooth, soft feeling. Editing also helps to squeeze time. It quickens some repetitive activities like getting dressed every day. In the first part of the movie editing seems to be more harsh like the life of the characters is and later becomes more smooth as the music and dancing changes their situation.
In Timecode there is one, central music theme that reoccurs throughout the whole film. It is a simplified waltz, played on a classical spanish guitar. It appears in the most important moments of the film. The role of the music in Timecode is to evoke emotions in viewers and to intensify feelings transmitted by the characters. There is also an additional source of music, being pop songs from the radio that come from the ‘diegesis’, the world of the film. The radio is switched on by the male guard and switched off by the female guard. The sound is synchronised with the course of action and sometimes carries emotions, e.g. the noise of ventilators brings with itself a feeling of emptiness and loneliness to the scene.
The acting is focused on the dancing as choreography is set to express the beauty of dancing. Actors just say a few words but the essence is the language of their bodies. Spoken words are not necessary. First they dance separately for their own pleasure but later they form a new connection by dancing together. Their dances complete each other and become a unity. Their acting consist of gestures and dance and they do it perfectly with a dose of grace and charm.
As spanish or southern american people tend to have more temperament and fire in their hearts compared to other ethnicities, this fire is represented in the dancing acts. With their normal boring jobs as security guards the two main characters don’t have an outlet for their fire inside, until they start dancing in the garage. The fire gets lit up even more when Luna and Diego start to perform dance acts together, creating a symbiosis with their dancing and escaping their boring work lives for short moments in time. The dancing is not a normal or standard or traditional kind of dance but seems like modern dance mixed with martial arts.
Rating (5/6)