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Code 46 - Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Michael Winterbottom

Threat advisory: Guarded - General risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

How do you solve a crime when the last thing you want to know is the truth?

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 these 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 has 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.

Persons of interest

Tim Robbins .... William
Samantha Morton .... Maria
Om Puri .... Backland
Emil Marwa .... Mohan
Nina Fog .... Wole
Bruno Lastra .... Bikku
Christopher Simpson .... Paul
David Fahm .... Damian Alekan
Jeanne Balibar .... Sylvie
Mick Jones .... Himself
Taro Sherabayani .... Jim
Nina Sosanya .... Anya
Frank Cottrell Boyce .... Screenwriter
Michael Winterbottom .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Code 46 official movie site
Code 46 production notes
Code 46 QuickTime movie trailers

Awards and film festivals:

European Film Awards 2004: Nominated: Audience Award Best Actress (Samantha Morton), Best Director (Michael Winterbottom)
International Press Academy Golden Satellite Awards 2004: Nominated: Sound - Editing and Mixing (Joakim Sundström)
Venice Film Festival 2003: Nominated: Golden Lion (Michael Winterbottom)

See also Equilibrium, Minority report, V for Vendetta
Studios and distributors:

BBC * Revolution Studios * Becker Entertainment * Icon Film Distribution

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Code 46 is a little bit Minority report, a little bit 2046, a little bit Blade runner and a little bit Equilibrium. Tragic heroes, tragic heroines, fancy technology, a stratified society, triumph of the human spirit, etc. It's also too long; it drags.

See Code 46 when you're too tired to watch a proper movie.

Bonus points for showing actual labia in a movie.