Educational Media Reviews Online

Russian scientist Igor Novikov speculates on the mysteries of time and time travel in this dreamlike documentary. In his early life in Stalinist Russia his father was executed and his mother was arrested. Growing up with his aunt, he read widely and thought about space travel, which was all a dream at that time. In the same way that space travel is now a reality, he believes that eventually time travel will also be feasible.

As he talks about the possibility of someday traveling through the fourth dimension, the film shows vintage footage of people and events from the 20th century, such as the atomic bomb, great massed armies, combat, world leaders, and his own family, planting the desire to go back in time to change history. The film progresses at a contemplative pace, with the vintage footage building a wistful momentum. Novikov, however, says that rules must govern the usage of time travel, so that events will remain consistent with the past and the future. According to his calculations he also says that time travelers cannot go back further than when the first time machine was created, thereby leaving the “pains and sufferings of the past…unalterable”.

The technical quality of this film is very good, with animations of black holes and wormholes interspersed with the vintage footage and present day scenes of Novikov in the classroom. This film will make a welcome addition to school, public and academic libraries, and should spur the imaginations of a new generation of writers and scientists.

Awards

• Official Selection, Documentary Fortnight, Museum of Modern Art, 2006