via Youtube:
The New York Times calls it "a somber new dystopian romance" and says,
In the end ''Code 46'' proposes a stark choice between comfort and freedom, between the managed abundance of Shanghai (and Seattle, where William lives with his wife and son) and the anarchy and danger of afuera. It is also a choice between the luxury of forgetting and the keenness of memory.Slant Magazine gives it 4 out of 4 stars and describes it as "a 92-minute, color-coded mood enhancer boiling over with provocative ideas and unsettling imagery." The Guardian calls it "an eerie fantasy, set not so much in the generic "future" of sci-fi but in an alternative present" and a "resounding, success for this uniquely talented director."
Empire Online closes with this: "An understated yet oddly affecting sci-fi romance which offers a glimpse of a disturbing and all-too-credible future." Roger Ebert gives it a mixed review and concludes, "the movie is more successful at introducing the slang and science of the future than incorporating it into a story." Rotten Tomatoes critics rating is 51%.
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Dystopian romance sounds like an oxymoron.
ReplyDeleteAh, you might think so, but people will fall in love no matter how bad things are.
DeleteThis sounds very familiar to me. Although it appears there are differences, it reminded me of Blade Runner, In Blade Runner, the clones are Replicants, and bio-engineered to work on other worlds. Blade Runner was filmed in the early 80s, and many scenes and special effects were created using technology of the day, which was non digital. Thanks for your review.
ReplyDeleteThese are people in their own right, not engineered in that way. Wikipedia describes it this way: "The government appears to be authoritarian and dystopian. Society is regulated by various "codes". The code of the movie title prohibits "genetically incestuous reproduction", which may occur as a result of the various medical technologies which have become commonplace, such as cloning." In Blade Runner the replicants are engineered for a purpose and have expiration dates and are not humans with the rights of humans but just _look_ like people.
DeleteThis definitely sounds like my kind of film! Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it :)
DeleteI have actually seen this movie referenced a time or two, though have net seen it myself. I think I'll try to give it a peek.
ReplyDelete-- A Pal :o)
It's interesting. Both a love story and a story of how government can go too far.
DeleteOh cloning is a scary topic. Did you ever see Orphan Black, that was a brilliant series. I wonder if in history how many actual cases of unknown "incestuous" relationships there have been, especially from small villages. Romance novels would have us believe it's quite common. I wonder if Ancestry DNA is finding any of those!?
ReplyDeleteAnd not just cloning or unrecognized parentage of out-of-wedlock births but in-vitro fertilization where the parents and child don't know who the donors are. I'd imagine unknowing incest would happen more and more as the use of donors -especially sperm donors- increases. You'd think eventually it'd be a problem that'd need some kind of tracking system, tho I'll probably not live to see it.
DeleteI watched this on Netflix over a decade ago. Gave it 4 out of 5 stars so I must have liked it. I only remember it being one of those intriguing movies that makes you think about how things might go in the future. I might have to watch it again! Thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteI did find it thought-provoking. I don't know how I missed it, but I only stumbled across it recently.
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