Code 46 (2003)

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Writer:

Frank Cottrell Boyce (writer)

Release Date:

7 May 2004 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

In the future...love is a dangerous game.

Plot:

A futuristic 'Brief Encounter', a love story in which the romance is doomed by genetic incompatibility.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Totalitarian | Affair | Future | Car Accident

Awards:

4 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Tim Robbins	...	William Geld
Togo Igawa	...	Driver
Nabil Elouahabi	...	Vendor
Samantha Morton	...	Maria Gonzales
Sarah Backhouse	...	Weather Girl
Jonathan Ibbotson	...	Boxer
Natalie Jackson Mendoza	...	Sphinx Receptionist (as Natalie Mendoza)
Om Puri	...	Bahkland
Emil Marwa	...	Mohan
Nina Fog	...	Wole
Bruno Lastra	...	Bikku
Christopher Simpson	...	Paul
Lien Nguyin	...	Singer in Nightclub
David Fahm	...	Damian Alekan
Jeanne Balibar	...	Sylvie

MPAA:

Rated R for a scene of sexuality, including brief graphic nudity.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | New Zealand:R13 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Germany:12 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:PG-12 | Singapore:R21 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #40188)

Filming Locations:

Blackwall Tunnel, London, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Mick Jones of The Clash sings the Clash song "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" in the karaoke-esque club scene, but he appears to get the words wrong. The song goes "If I go there will be trouble. If I STAY it will be double", but he sings "If I go there will be trouble. If I GO it will be double".

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When tracking the location of Jebel Ali, it is shown facing the Indian ocean. However, it is in fact on the Persian gulf.

Quotes:

Wole: There is no freckles pornography.
William: Well, there is "Anne of Green Gables".
Wole: I consider "Anne of Green Gables" to be an erotic masterpiece.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Obtaining Cover: Inside Code 46 (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Tehran

The plot is almost secondary for such a great deal of the film and you can't really get a feel for what it is actually about.

I had the pleasure and the privilege of attending a screening of this film recently. It had been unveiled in an incomplete state at the Venice film festival and in a more complete state at the Rotterdam festival last year. It has since been re-edited and was played for the first time to close the Birmingham Screen Festival ahead of its worldwide release later in the year (probably August/September).

It is the newest collaboration between British director and writer team, Michael Winterbottom and Frank Cottrell Boyce. It stars Tim Robbins and upcoming British actress Samantha Morton (Minority Report, In America, Morvern Callar).

It is set in a near future where a worldwide law (Code 46) makes the marriage of two people with genetic similarities illegal. The idea is that many cloned embryos are produced by IVF and so there are a number of genetically identical people in the world. So the potential is there for you to meet someone who is genetically related to you, so everyone must be screened before they marry. Any births resulting from Code 46 liaisons are terminated.

The plot is almost secondary for such a great deal of the film and you can't really get a feel for what it is actually about until very close to the end, and that is what made it so refreshing for me. It was more about the feel of the places, the emotions of the two characters (Robbins and Morton) and their developing relationship. You really don't know much about this futuristic society that people are now living in, or why it came to be like that. It reminded me of Hitchcock in that he would have a plot feature that was necessary for the whole story to take place, but it was almost secondary to the story itself (Hitch called it 'the macguffin'). An example of this is the stolen diamonds in North By Northwest.

In those respects it reminded me of Lost In Translation in that it was more about some subconcious feeling you got from the film, the characters and the whole atmosphere than about plot points. It makes it confusing and you wonder whether you'll get to the end without knowing anything, but when the end comes you've found yourself having actually picked up lots of information unwittingly. And more importantly, you really feel for and love the two characters. And I really loved the fact that while the film doesn't end on a low point, it isn't the happy ending you might expect (and indeed hope) of the two characters.

The obvious references are similar films like Blade Runner and Brave New World, but while it is a futuristic setting its not doused in sci-fi overtones. It looks fresh and stylish and is the result of shooting partly on film and partly on DV and utilising numerous digital effects. The very low budget of the film also meant that they couldn't build any large sets, so instead the film is made entirely on location (Shanghai, middle east and Westminster tube station in London).

We were treated to a Q&A with one of the actors and with the producer who gave a great deal of insight into the film, and I for one left the cinema feeling very lucky to have seen it.

When its in cinemas later in the year I recommend you go and see it. I know for a certainty that a lot of people won't like it because it lacks those obvious plot points from the outset, but instead it doesn't take you by the hand to its conclusion.

One of my new favourite films I'm sure.