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Code 46

5.8

7,671

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Original title

Code 46

Year

2003

Running time

90 min.

Country

United Kingdom

Director

Michael Winterbottom

Screenwriter

Frank Cottrell Boyce

Cast

Music

The Free Association, David Holmes

Cinematography

Marcel Zyskind, Alwin H. Kuchler

Producer

United Artists

Genre

Sci-Fi. Romance | Cyberpunk. Dystopia

Synopsis

Code 46 is a love story set in an eerily possible near-future where cities are heavily controlled and only accessible through checkpoints. People cannot travel unless they have papelles, a special travel insurance. Outside cities, the desert has taken over and shanty towns are jammed with non-citizens - people without papelles whose lives are severely restricted. William (Tim Robbins) is a family man who works as an insurance investigator. When his company sends him to another city to solve a case of fake papelles, he meets a woman named Maria (Samantha Morton). Although he knows she's been creating the forgeries, he falls completely in love with her. He hides her crime and they have a wild, passionate affair that can only last as long as his papelles: 24 hours. Back home, William is obsessed with the memory of Maria. He tries to see her but is refused the necessary papers to travel. Desperate, he uses one of the fake papelles he kept from his investigation. He eventually tracks her down, only to discover she has been accused of a Code 46 violation.

Awards: 2005: Méliès d'or (Best Film)

2004: Sitges Fantasy Film Festival: Best Screenplay, Soundtrack

2004: European Film Awards: 4 Nominations including Best Cinematography

2003: Venice Film Festival: Nominated for Golden Lion

2004: Satellite Awards: nominated to Sound (Editing and Mixing).

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Critics' reviews

"The movie is more successful at introducing the slang and science of the future than incorporating it into a story (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"With all this intelligence in front of and behind the cameras, why then does Code 46 play like a William Gibson novel with all the juicy bits removed?"

Ty Burr: Boston Globe
"Commits a Code 1 violation: It's boring."

Stephen Hunter: The Washington Post
"It's all very ambitious -- and thought-provoking. But, at only 92 minutes, one wishes the script had been further developed and the film executed with more clarity."

Claudia Puig: USA Today
"Flat, boring, pointless, and nonsensical."

James Berardinelli: ReelViews
"Robbins and Morton, both fine actors, have no chemistry whatsoever. Their love story may as well have been written by Jules Verne."

John Anderson: Newsday
"Cinematography, production design and music are all top-notch, but the film largely succeeds because of the leads"

Genevieve Harrison: Empire

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User history

Code 46

2003

Michael Winterbottom

5.8

(7,671)