code 46

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new michael winterbottom film, with tim robbins and samantha morton. i'm supposed to go to a screening tomorrow. anyone heard anything?

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

i have seen it. might have been a rough cut.

oedipal stuff. lots of pretty images. too much voice over. and tim robbins and samantha morton as a couple just leave me cold.

― ryan (ryan), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 02:21 (twenty-one years ago)

holy balls, does this ever suck. it's an amateurish combo of eternal sunshine, bladerunner, 50 first dates, 1984 and la jetee, and i have the strong suspicion that the director (michael winterbottom) didn't get final cut.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 29 July 2004 14:53 (twenty-one years ago)

oh, and at one point robbins and morton sing no woman, no cry to each other. i wanted to throw my m&ms at the screen.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 29 July 2004 14:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Winterbottom's got a spotty output, and though he's constantly experimental and innovative he's often off the mark by a mile or two. When I saw the trailer I thought 'shitty trailer, but looks like their might be a good film buried underneath.' No?

MW's a pretty devoted pessimist (do you remember when he directed the incredibly grim adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Jude?) and if the ending's sweetened up I'd bet that your suspicion's right about his not having final cut.

― x j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Thursday, 29 July 2004 14:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a strong suspicion MW *did* have final cut actually, but yes this is a stinkeroo.

What do directors think is so special about Samantha Morton? It's absurd how much time they spend self-consciously photographing her face as in the 'Morvern Callar' esque club scenes here (the two film share a DP).

I thought I'd hate Robbins in this, but in fact he was about the only redeemable thing.

But the main think is: 'Minority Report' is better than this.

― ENRQ (Enrique), Thursday, 29 July 2004 14:58 (twenty-one years ago)

he's really inconsistant, yeah. i liked jude well enough, and i thought 24hrpartypeople and wonderland were fantastic. this is just a steaming heap, though. i can't for the life of me figure out how the claim went unreleased (really not that bad) and this didn't. at this point i'm assuming m.w. is a menace without a really, really strong script - this one seemed to have been written by a group of a.d.d. chimpanzees.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I like Morton's look, I think she's got the type of face that's glibly labeled 'otherworldly' and a certain finesse of movement unmatched in most other actors. But at the same time, the weirdly lunar topography of her face isn't enough to sustain an entire film -to make use of its uniqueness Morton's gotta really react, emote, and not just play a silent, strong, independent, womyn type. The best use of her (including Spielberg's squeam-inducing use of her kiddy-sexuality in Minority Report) was in In America where she's given ever-so much drama to play.

― x j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:03 (twenty-one years ago)

i've been meaning to DYE it, hence my unstructured non-think. i think MW needs to slow down and think about what he's doing. he admires eg fassbinder for his work-rate but fassbinder had the relative advantages of a) a pretty consistent sensibility b) political commitment (see a) and c) relatively limited scope. MW has the work-rate but flaps about not knowing what stories he wants to tell, the eclecticism grates. even 'in this world' was touristic: it showed you very little about migration except its barest surface.

― ENRQ (Enrique), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:06 (twenty-one years ago)

there's something fascinating about her face, although she's not exactly beautiful, and she's got an insanely strong sort of magnetism but to echo jeremy you can't just plunk her down and expect close-ups of her to carry the film. there's really nothing there in code 46 for her to work with, no matter how stunning those feline blue eyes are.

xpost

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

[i think her general primrose hilliness has plain put me off her. but i Just Don't See It in any case]

― ENRQ (Enrique), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

ok i saw this a LONG time ago (like March), and I wasn't sure if it was teh final cut. does it still end on a coldplay song? (and the ending I saw, if i can remember correctly, was pretty pessimistic)

― ryan (ryan), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:11 (twenty-one years ago)

That, Ryan, is enough to guarantee I'll never see it. After sitting through the turgid visual orgasm of Peter Pan [whose trailer was scored to Coldplay's Clocks (or whatever the shit that song was called)] I swore I'd never see any film promoted / featuring a song and band I actively despised.

― x j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

yow this sounds bad! and i love MW. but this absolutely chills me to the bone:

oh, and at one point robbins and morton sing no woman, no cry to each other.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

the ending is pure Derelicht!!!!!!! SM-as-Palestinian-esque-refugee!! With, yes, a Coldplay soundtrack. Hilarious.

― ENRQ (Enrique), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

You know, if that were in an Altman movie I bet it'd be brilliant.

― x j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Not with a Coldplay song it wouldn't.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

also: plot holes ahoy! as bad as van helsing, really. several rather major threads were started/hinted at then dropped with no explanation, and there was lots of carelessness with wardrobe/set continuity.

many xposts - yes, ryan, it still ends with the coldplay song/"i miss you.." thing. very pessimisstic and very CRAP.
enrique, i know what you mean abt her choice of friends. she's in with a terrible group of people, but i do think she's compelling as an actress.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

isn't it already an altman movie?

http://imdb.com/title/tt0079770/

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

i kind of thought that she was set up as a mary magdalene figure at the end.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

whatever that means it don't sound good.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

it's not good at all.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

yee.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw it last September in the presence of Michael Winterbottom at the San Sebastian Film Festival. He looked quite uncomfortable before it started and he'd gone by the time it finished. I don't blame him, it was rubbish. In the future, people will drop the odd word of Spanish into their conversations whilst keeping a straight face. Of possible interest: Mick Jones cameo.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:30 (twenty-one years ago)

the random use of french and spanish provided for much hilarity later in the night after drinks were consumed: "hey hombre, can you get me another cerveza? merci!"
so did the whole papelle nonsense: "do you have cover for that restroom? i think your papelle is only for the upstairs toilet."

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 29 July 2004 15:35 (twenty-one years ago)

vraiment contrived the 'esperanto' bit, bcz it was ALWAYS start/end wds in conversation, nicht war? no effort there.
also, and this just came back to me, wtf is with the sex scenes? this relates to a recent thread but i found having samantha morton, in extreme close-up, saying 'i love you' at the camera (while being fucked) kind of invasive? which actually might be interesting (avant-garde film-maker steve dwoskin played with this idea in the 60s). maybe i'm being prudish.

― ENRG, Thursday, 12 August 2004 08:57 (twenty-one years ago)

No, the sex scene was excruciating. I hope 'Nine Songs' can do a bit better than that.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Thursday, 12 August 2004 09:17 (twenty-one years ago)

i saw M Winterbootm at a Q&A. it's practically obligatory at Q&As for a 'feminist question' to be laughed at -- haha we're all adults, even the girls, etc. the only occasion this hasn't happened was at 'irreversible' where gaspar noe took criticism pretty seriously. but the fem-q here was 'why was sm's shaved 'parts' displayed so prominently. of course he picked up on the 'shaved' comment and made a big joke out of it. but the question remains. in general he seemed unwilling to think about his formal choices, and came off as smug.

― ENRG, Thursday, 12 August 2004 09:24 (twenty-one years ago)

in a world where incest is forbidden!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 19 August 2004 00:21 (twenty-one years ago)

and international travel is slightly more difficult!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 19 August 2004 00:22 (twenty-one years ago)

looked pretty darn good though

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 19 August 2004 00:45 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

lo siento.

― cºzen (Cozen), Thursday, 30 September 2004 08:05 (twenty-one years ago)

The camera work was fantastic, but it the end it was kind of meh, and loads of the surviellance stuff just didn't seem to have a point behind it . I didn't mind all the "cover" nonsense - I'm willing to immerse myself in a stupid future, after all there are loads of stupid things happening in the real world all the time (although why couldn't they just have extended his cover if he was working for Sphinx which seemed to be in charge of everything)

The big problem was that you just didn't emphasise with the characters, which was kind-of ironic.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Thursday, 30 September 2004 08:28 (twenty-one years ago)

great future setting, shite characters and plot.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Thursday, 30 September 2004 10:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I think this movie had some nice ideas but was really untenable, leading with the brooding businessman - pixie sylph part-psychic central ~~archetype~~ relationship.

― cºzen (Cozen), Thursday, 30 September 2004 11:52 (twenty-one years ago)

But the main think is: 'Minority Report' is better than this.

which is a measure of how duff this film is.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Thursday, 30 September 2004 12:27 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

it's incredible that this guy directed 'wonderland', which I watched again today. it doesn't show us anything new but the way it shows it!

― cºzen (Cozen), Monday, 8 November 2004 15:59 (twenty-one years ago)

exactly.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 8 November 2004 16:41 (twenty-one years ago)

wonderland kicks this movie's ass around the block

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 23:16 (twenty-one years ago)

SPOILERS. something I liked a lot more this time, or noticed and cringed at, simm sculpting the inside of his head out 'into the size of a football stadium' on a bridge in london, after he'd been sacked, building the conversation in his head, in a way it'll never run, too perfect, too lyrical, too storybook when you know when he gets home its going to be all looks, uncomfortable silence and awkward pleading, then when he does get home and tries to say 'look, I'll get some food in, cook a nice meal, and we'll talk... just talk', it's horrid painful. haha I even blubbed at the end when molly has her baby, I don't normally cry at endings but it kinda got me. I was watching it in a library viewing room sat next to a communist (I'm guessing) who was watching '12 angry men'. he must have thought me a sight.

― cºzen (Cozen), Monday, 8 November 2004 23:19 (twenty-one years ago)

such a great, great movie. I've not spent any substantial amount of time in london but he managed to capture (in the slowing down and speeding up, the bleached-out grainy stock, the shots from distance of central characters mixed with shots from distance of just other people &c.) some essential quality of london. this is what I'm saying, the themes are nothing new (the city's lonely, &c.) and neither really is the presentation, but it's like he's managed to nail some perfect synthesis, an alchemy of the swarming streets. that's almost magical.

― cºzen (Cozen), Monday, 8 November 2004 23:24 (twenty-one years ago)

'I've not spent any substantial amount of time in london but for me...'

― cºzen (Cozen), Monday, 8 November 2004 23:24 (twenty-one years ago)

this movie made me cry all right

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 23:24 (twenty-one years ago)

i mean code 46. wonderland fucking rocks.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 23:25 (twenty-one years ago)

I LOVE WONDERLAND GUYS!!!

― cºzen (Cozen), Monday, 8 November 2004 23:26 (twenty-one years ago)

i can always count on you two.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 11:22 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...

Haha, as seems typical, I liked this movie *a lot* whereas everyone else seems to hate it. Cerebral-near-future-Freudian-romance = I'm probably going to enjoy it at least for the issues it brings up and tries to play out. One of the best soundtracks I've heard recently (the Coldplay song was duddish, but not terrible) - David Holmes did it I think (it said 'Free Association' so I'm assuming. One thing that really helped with the patois was to watch the DVD with the english subs *on* - I know it shouldn't come to that for the viewer, but here it really eases things.

One of the real stars of the film is Shanghai itself - or rather, the nu-globalist utopia-dystopia that Shanghai is becoming (Shanghai today is exactly as depicted in the film - at least for those who aren't al fuero). I really liked how the future looks exactly like the (advanced) present, but with a meta layer that's not apparent, affecting the deepest thoughts of the character (like the internet today).

I also liked how the concept of privacy was dealt with. How the one guy couldn't go to Delhi for whatever reason and what that eventually turned out to be. Also, the Tim Robbins character was basically an insurance adjuster - another layer of oppression which is slowly revealed.

Both of the performances were very strong. I actually really liked the bedroom scenes. Photography was excellent in general. etc etc.

Best line:
"Everybody's children are so special... it makes you wonder where all the ordinary grown-ups come from."

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 10 January 2005 07:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I also like how this movie addresses genetics and liability and how they're increasingly controlling society (movement and social mobility etc). The breaking of the incest taboo in the film was unique in the sci-fi sense but also generally relevant since it is also mostly a convention of control througout history.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 10 January 2005 07:30 (twenty-one years ago)

i didn't like how the movie dealt with class and sexual power relationships, esp. with relation to the 'bondage/rape' scene, which was so grotesquely typical of "her body says no, but her eyes say yes! she really DOES want sex!" to quite disturb me. the content was either intentionally quite offensive, or the filmmakers were totally, blithely obtuse to what they were actually suggesting.

it really bothered me, because the film is abso-fucking-lutely gorgeous to watch. it is an absolutely beautiful film, in terms of visuals.

― derrick (derrick), Monday, 10 January 2005 08:41 (twenty-one years ago)

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