The world is split between cities under totalitarian control and the desert outside where the poor without papers struggle to live. William Geld (Tim Robbins) is sent to Shanghai to investigate forged papers. Maria Gonzalez (Samantha Morton) works at a company creating the papers and is the prime suspect. Code 46 prohibits reproduction due to genetic similarities. He follows her and they start an affair.
It feels a little like 'Blade Runner' with the language amalgam, futuristic dystopia, and dark ethical dilemmas. It is inferior by comparison. The movie is trying to be exotic simply by filming in these foreign locations. It fails to be futuristic. A little background CGI would go a long way. The ethical question is a little confused and messy. Honestly, I don't feel the romantic chemistry between William and Maria. I wonder if Maria is playing William or William is taking advantage of Maria. I'm simply not invested in their relationship.
Code 46
2003
Action / Drama / Romance / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Code 46
2003
Action / Drama / Romance / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Plot summary
This movie is a love story set in a Brave New World-type near-future where cities are heavily controlled and accessible only through checkpoints. People cannot travel unless they have "papeles" (papers in Spanish; words and sentences in many languages, especially Spanish, French, and Chinese are mixed with English in this new world),a special travel permit issued by the totalitarian government, the "Sphinx". Outside these cities, the desert has taken over and shanty towns are jammed with non-citizens, people without IDs forced to live primitive lives. William Geld (Tim Robbins) is a family man who works as a government investigator. When he is sent to Shanghai to solve a case of fake IDs, he meets a woman named Maria Gonzales (Samantha Morton). Although he realizes she is behind the forgeries, he cannot help but fall completely in love with her. He hides her crime and they have a wild, passionate affair that can last only as long as his visa: twenty-four hours. Back home, William is obsessed with the memory of Maria. When the original investigation is inevitably re-opened a week later and William is sent back to finish the work he started, he tracks her down only to discover she has been accused of a Code 46 violation, and any further relationship is therefore impossible.
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not feeling the romance
Intriguing, Original and Scary Futuristic View of Love
In a near future, in a world ruled by a totalitarian government, checking of the genetic code is mandatory for any type of possible relationship between man and woman. The investigator from Seattle William (Tim Robbins) travels to Shanghai to investigate the faking and stealing of special Visas called "papelles". The main suspect is Maria Gonzales (Samantha Morton),who works in the company Sphinx, but William falls in love for her and protects her. They have a passionate one night stand, and sooner they find that they are genetically incompatible to each other and they have violated the Code 46.
"Code 46" is an intriguing, original and scary futuristic view of love. The screenplay is very intelligent like "Gattaca", scary as "1984" and uses an own vocabulary, like in "Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange", mixing English, Spanish and French. Michael Winterbottom is one of my favorite directors and his work is great as usual. The fantastic Tim Robbins, and the excellent Samantha Norton, that I saw recently in "In America", have great performances, showing chemistry and eroticism in their love scenes. I liked very much this pessimist love story, which makes the viewer think how close the mankind might be of this fate, with the current politics and governments we have in most of the countries. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Código 46" ("Code 46")
Thought-provoking Science-Fiction movie without visual especial effects
The film deals with an agent (Tim Robbins) of a Corporation called sphinx who must discover a forgery of documents that serve to immigrants to enter at civilized and developed zones . The prime suspect is a girl (Samantha Morton) who falls in love with the starring infringing the code 46 . In the future...love is a dangerous game. A doomed and utopic romance by genetic incompatibility . How do you solve a crime when the last thing you want to know is the truth? Can you miss someone you don't remember? Can a single moment ever disappear completely?
In the film there is intense drama , suspense , a love story but turns out to be a little slow-moving and that's why it is a bit boring, although the runtime is adjusted , but the run is ninety minutes , approx . The picture isn't an ordinary Sci-Fi movie but it is a clever , brooding and thoughtful parable about future . Resulting to be a futuristic Brief Encounter with a Science Fiction love story in which a doomed love story goes wrong . Code 46 refers to the 22 chromosome pairs, plus the two sex chromosomes in human beings . The pic has a certain resemblance to ¨Gattaca¨(Andrew Nicol) regarding a cold and dystopian future . The motion picture was professionally directed by Michael Witterbotton who has directed all kinds of genres , thus : Drama (Wonderland ),costumer (Jude) , warlike (welcome to Sarajevo) , Western (the claim) , musical comedy (24 hours party) , documentary fiction (In this world) , erotic (9 songs) and now sci fi (code 46) . Witterbotton said about this film he wanted to make a remake to ¨Brief encounter¨ (David Lean) set in the utopia , in a nearly civilization . The picture achieved Award in Sitges festival to the best European film and musical score . However , obtaining limited success at the box office because being a bit tiring , dull and complex . The yarn will appeal to intelligent science fiction movies fans