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Film Description
A speculative fiction set in a world in which control is omnipresent for the good of the populace and genetics forms the basis of laws. Robbins is the laconic government investigator sent to get to the bottom of a counterfeiting ring which is producing fake 'papelles' - compulsory travel permits, and who falls in love with the woman behind the forgeries. Morton is just right as the forger.
One of the most effective aspects of Code 46 is how it conjures up a plausible world of the near future by intensifying certain characteristics of our own. The technol... more >
One of the most effective aspects of Code 46 is how it conjures up a plausible world of the near future by intensifying certain characteristics of our own. The technology present in the film does nothing that it cannot already do, but being both mundane and omnipresent it creates an effective atmosphere of a controlled society. The language is curious too. English is dominant but is peppered with easy phrases from other languages: claro, salaam, salut, par avion, so that sentences like ‘you look like them un poco’ are commonplace. More threateningly, the language also reiterates certain phrases that deny access to information. ‘Authorisation’ is a key word and platitudes such as ‘a confidentiality issue’ and ‘a body issue’ are repeated.
The setup of the film is straightforward: an investigator is sent to find out who is producing fake papelles – the documents needed to travel outside the controlled zone of the city, and falls for the person producing them. Their relationship is forbidden as a Code 46 violation which forbids sexual contact between people of genetic similarity and they attempt to escape.
Frank Cottrell Boyce’s prescient script about the forthcoming ‘genetics century’ is a gift and if Winterbottom’s adaptation is not completely convincing, it is still well worth a watch for its transformation of ideas into film. Morton is good in her role but the main weakness is Tim Robbins’ performance. Obviously bemused by the ‘guerilla film-making’ style on the streets of Shanghai and Dubai, he retreats into a laconic shell and doesn’t carry the conviction needed for the chemistry of the central relationship. There is a more generous reading of this though. Their romance is entirely created by the limitations of the society in which they live and if this is as good as breakaway love is going to be, then the future really is bleak.
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