Code 46 (2003)
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
In a dystopian future, insurance fraud investigator William Gold arrives in Shanghai to investigate a forgery ring for "papelles", futuristic passports that record people's identities and genetics. Gold falls for Maria Gonzalez, the woman in charge of the forgeries. After a passionate affair, Gold returns home, having named a coworker as the culprit. But when one of Gonzalez's customers is found dead, Gold is sent back to Shanghai to complete the investigation.
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What critics compared Code 46 to
If you crave science fiction like GATTACA and Until the End of the World, then you must must must see Code 46.
A sci-fi mood piece about memory, passion, and pseudo-Oedipal longing, Michael Winterbottom’s Code 46 – akin to THX 1138-via-Gattaca – is long on atmosphere but short on substance.
As the opening titles intimate, Code 46's point of departure is fear of incest, brought on by genetic engineering (recalling questions raised by Gattaca [1997]), with extra anxieties ignited by cloning.
Simmering or open class warfare has been a rich trope for sci-fi futurecasting as far back as Fritz Lang ’s 1927 “Metropolis” and as recently as “In Time,” “ Total Recall ” and Michael Winterbottom’s fine, underseen “Code 46.” Lang’s influence is particularly evident in “Elysium’s” army of industrious worker bees slaving away on the factory floor of the Armadyne corporation, whose slithery CEO, Carlyle ( William Fichtner ), developed Elysium and all the technology that makes it run.
Si le splendide Code 46 de Michael Winterbottom dressait un portrait effrayant d’une civilisation qui a tout simplement appris à vivre avec une nouvelle réalité mise sens dessus dessous par les conséquences dramatiques des réchauffements climatiques, l’adaptation du roman de P.D. James ne donne pas un tel sursis à la race humaine, laquelle doit désormais composer avec sa propre extinction.
A sort of trippy, low-budget "Blade Runner," this movie echoes those futuristic parables (such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") where society messes with the minds of those who dare to love.
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” covers a lot of the same ground, but it's much more thoughtful and entertaining.
Flanked in theatres by Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Joseph Ruben's The Forgotten , Code 46 represents one of three 2004 releases to deal with memory-tampering.
But back in Shanghai, he finds that Maria's memory of him has been erased, indicating that the future didn't learn its lesson from " Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ."
Yet we’ve seen so many free spirited lead women roles this year with Kate Winslett in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Robin Wright Penn in A Home at the End of the World that Morton’s “Maria” could fall under the category of old news.