The Babadook

Written and directed by Jennifer Kent that is based on her short film Monster, The Babadook is the story of a woman taking care of her troubled six-year old son when their life turns upside down by a book that features a creature the boy has been dreaming about. The film is an exploration of a woman dealing with grief as well as the things that could be troubling her son. Starring Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West, and Ben Winspear. The Babadook is an exhilarating and entrancing film from Jennifer Kent.

The film follows a widow who lost her husband in a car accident on the day her son was born as the boy has been erratic and energetic until she finds a book about a monster that would eventually come to life to haunt both of them. It’s a film in which a woman copes with loss as she tries to move on as well as dealing with her six-year old son who is wild and claims he sees a monster which got him kicked out at school. During the course of the story, the woman in Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis) is dealing with these situations as she would become haunted by this mysterious creature known as the Babadook.

Jennifer Kent’s screenplay starts off with Amelia trying to maintain some normalcy in raising her son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) who has an active imagination and wants to do magic but is also troubled claiming he has strange nightmares. Upon finding this book to read to him at night, she thinks it’s just a simple book but it appears in strange places only to see Samuel act more lively and scared than usual with some telling Amelia that he's got some serious problems. Yet, Amelia would also unravel upon seeing things as it adds to what she read and what this mysterious creature would do.

Kent’s direction does have a sense of style in its approach to suspense and horror yet it is very straightforward in terms of playing into the drama as well as building things up. Shot on location in Adelaide in South Australia, the film does play into a world that is typical of suburbia where Amelia works at a nursing home to care for the elderly while her son goes to school and such. The air of suspense and horror doesn’t come until the second act during Amelia’s attempts to get rid of the book as well as Samuel’s increasingly erratic behavior. Kent would use some wide shots to establish bits of the location as well as emphasizing the space inside the house yet much of the compositions would have Kent use medium shots and close-ups. Especially in the scenes where Amelia becomes unhinged by these strange images she’s seeing as well as what Samuel is claiming to see.

One aspect of the film that is key to its horror is the book that is created by its illustrator/designer Alex Juhasz as it is this pop-up book that is about this monster that haunts those who call for it. By the time the film reaches the second act where Amelia starts to see things and wonder if she’s really hallucinating or this monster in the Babadook is actually preying on her. Things definitely intensify during the third act where Kent’s approach to suspense and horror really come ahead where Amelia would start to lose aspects of herself as if the Babadook had possessed her just like the book had predicted. All of which would eventually lead to this climax into what the Babadook wants and Amelia needing to protect her son from this mysterious creature as it also forces her to confront loss. Overall, Kent crafts a chilling and gripping film about a woman trying to protect her son from a monster created from some mysterious book.

Cinematographer Radoslaw Ladczuk does excellent work with the film’s cinematography with the natural look of the scenes in the daytime to the array of lighting queues and set-ups for the scenes set at night. Editor Simon Njoo does brilliant work with the editing as it has some inventive rhythmic cutting to play into the suspense and horror while knowing how to build it up. Production designer/co-art director Alex Holmes, with set decorator Jennifer Drake and co-art director Karen Hannaford, does fantastic work with the look of the house that Amelia and Samuel live in as well as the basement which features some of the things Amelia’s late husband had. Costume designer Heather Wallace does nice work with the costumes as it is largely casual with the exception of a magic cape that Samuel wears.

Hair/makeup supervisor Tracy Phillpot does terrific work with some of the gory makeup for some of the film’s climax while much of it is straightforward. Visual effects supervisor Marty Pepper and prosthetics supervisor Dale Bamford do amazing work with the look of the Babadook with the usage of puppets, stop-motion animation, and some computer-created visual effects as it is one of the film’s highlights. Sound designer Frank Lipson does incredible work with the sound for some of the sound effects as well as the way the Babadook would make sounds to help create that sense of terror. The film’s music by Jed Kurzel is superb for its orchestral-based music to help play into the suspense and horror without using it as a crutch as well as not appear in certain places while music supervisor Andrew Kotako creates a soundtrack that mainly feature a few contemporary pieces as well as some pop and whatever was playing in Amelia’s television.

The casting by Nikki Barrett is great as it feature some notable small roles from Chloe Hurn as Samuel’s cruel cousin Ruby, Adam Morgan as a police sergeant, Benjamin Winspear as Amelia’s late husband Oskar, Daniel Henshall as a co-worker of Amelia’s in Robbie, Hayley McElhinney as Amelia’s sister Claire, Barbara West as Amelia’s elderly, Parkinson’s stricken neighbor, and Tim Purcell as the model for the Babadook. Noah Wiseman is remarkable as Samuel as a six-year old boy with an active imagination who is dealing with the strange things he is seeing claiming that the Babadook exists as it is a terrifying yet energetic performance. Finally, there’s Essie Davis in a phenomenal performance as Amelia as a single mother still dealing with the loss of her husband as she is also overwhelmed by her son where Davis displays a physicality in the scenes during the third act that is intense as well as showcase a determination in that balance of fear and insanity as it is a performance for the ages.

The Babadook is a tremendous film from Jennifer Kent that features spectacular performances from Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman. It’s a film that plays with the conventions of the horror genre while maintaining its focus of the relationship between a mother and son as well as how they cope with death and what they could find though grief. In the end, The Babadook is a magnificent film from Jennifer Kent.

The Nightingale

© thevoid99 2017

Australia (2008 film)

Directed by Baz Luhrmann and screenplay by Luhrmann, Ronald Harwood, Stuart Beattie, and Richard Flanagan from a story by Luhrmann, Australia is the story of an Englishwoman who travels to Australia to discover her husband’s death as she takes over the cattle business with a help of a drover while taking care of a half-Aborigine boy. Set in the late 1930s to early 1940s during the start of World War II, the film is an epic story of how a woman tries to take control of her destiny while dealing with forces that are trying to stop her as she tries to protect a young boy. Starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Brandon Walters, David Wenham, Bryan Brown, Ben Mendelsohn, Jack Thompson, and David Gulpilil. Australia is a grand though underwhelming film from Baz Luhrmann.

The film revolves around a period in time where half-Aborigine children, known as the Stolen Generations, were taken away from their families by the governments of the early 20th Century to be integrated with white societies. Notably as it has a plot revolving around a boy named Nullah (Brandon Walters) who is half-Aborigine where he intrigues an aristocratic Englishwoman in Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) who later becomes the maternal figure he needed following the death of his mother. While she embraces the new world she has arrived into as well as gaining the trust of a hardened yet kind man known as the Drover (Hugh Jackman). She also deals with all sorts of trials and tribulations relating to her burgeoning cattle business as well as witnessing the bombing of Darwin in 1942 where many characters deal with its impact and near-tragedy.

The screenplay that Luhrmann and his co-writers create is very multi-layered with lots of storylines revolving around many characters set in the span of three years from 1939 to 1942. While there are moments in the story that do falter a bit such as the mystery into the death of Lady Ashley’s husband where it is obvious into what really happened. It does play into the arrival of this woman who comes into a land that she has no knowledge about as she is seen as an outsider of sorts. By discovering why her husband went to the Australian outback which involves cattle, she decides to take control by protecting Nullah who had been mistreated by the very cruel Neil Fletcher who had been working for the cattle baron Lesley “King” Carney (Bryan Brown). With the help of the Drover and various other people, the film’s first act is about Lady Ashley’s arrival into Australia and becoming the competition that Carney tries to avoid.

The second act isn’t just about Lady Ashley’s romance with the Drover and the brief happiness she has with him and Nullah but also revelations into her husband’s death and what Aborigine children have to do which also plays into the presence of Nullah’s grandfather King George (David Gulpilil) whom Fletcher claimed had killed Lady Ashley’s husband. The third act takes place in 1942 during World War II where Lady Ashley, the Drover, and Nullah are separated as Nullah was taken to a remote island with other half-Aborigine children as Lady Ashley vows to get him back as she thinks of him as her son. The script does allow its principle characters like Lady Ashley and the Drover to develop where the latter is also an outsider because of his friendship with the Aborigine as he had a wife who was Aborigine.

While some of the ideas about the attitude towards Aborigines at the time is a bit heavy-handed in the story, it does play into the fact that both the Drover and Lady Ashley are outsiders who are willing to do right for those people despite what society thinks. The antagonist in Neil Fletcher is a conniving individual who does have a secret of his own though it is one aspect of the character that doesn’t work where it is also obvious. Still, there is something about Fletcher as he’s character that audiences love to hate as he often spouts the words, “pride is not power”.

Luhrmann’s direction is definitely grand in the way he presents Australia during that time period where it is a mixture of a lot of genres ranging from the sweeping romantic epic, the costume dramas, some comedy, the war film, and elements of the western. It’s a film that is all over the place where it can be called a mess a times but it makes up for as Luhrmann aims to create a film that recalls the epics of the past. Shooting on location in Australia including the Never Never desert in the Outback, Luhrmann uses the locations to present something that is visually-astonishing as well as epic to express how vast the land is. The place itself is just as much as a character of the film as everything else.

There are also moments in the film when Luhrmann knows where he doesn’t need to be extravagant where he does keep things simple in the way the characters interact with each other. Luhrmann does create some shots that are filled with a lot of lively moments and surprises to amp up the romance or the drama including some very harrowing scenes of the Darwin bombings. Though there are bits of the film’s ending which are over-drawn, it does work to reinforce the idea of love and family that the three central characters need from one another. Overall despite some of its messy moments and a few flaws in the story, Luhrmann does create a very worthwhile and engaging film about love and identity.

Cinematographer Mandy Walker does amazing work with the film‘s very gorgeous and colorful cinematography from the look of the rugged landscape with its naturalistic look to the more stylish scenes in some of the interiors and exterior settings in Darwin. Editors Dody Dorn and Michael McCusker do excellent work with the editing as it plays to an air of style with some rhythmic cuts for some of the film’s action moments as well as some montages to help establish a few key moments in the story. Production/costume designer Catherine Martin, with set decorator Beverley Dunn and supervising art director Ian Gracie, does fantastic work with the set pieces to recreate the look of late 1930s Darwin with its bars as well as the home Lady Ashley has in the Outback while the costumes that Martin creates are just beautiful to play up the evolving style of Lady Ashley along with the rugged look of the Drover who also shows that he has a very classy side to himself.

The film’s visual effects by Chris Godfrey does wonderful work with some of the film‘s visual effects for the extravagant Darwin bombing scene as well as a few visual effects shots in the Outback. Sound designer Wayne Pushley does superb work with the sound to capture some of the tense atmosphere in the Outback along with more layered sound work in the Darwin bombing scenes. The film’s music by David Hirschfelder is terrific for its use of sweeping orchestral arrangements and bombast along with some serene moments that includes the use of Somewhere In the Rainbow that becomes a key piece for Nullah and Lady Ashley. The soundtrack consists of music from that period with its mix of jazz, Australian folk, and pop along with new songs by Elton John and Angela Little to play up the sense of adventure and romance in the film.

The casting by Nikki Barrett and Ronna Kress is brilliant as it features a large collective of actors for this film. The film features appearances from Bill Hunter as a skipper, Barry Otto as a government representative overseeing the cattle industry, Ursula Yovich as Nullah’s mother, Ray Barrett as Lady Ashley’s British counsel, Sandy Gore as King Carney’s wife Gloria, Yuen Wah as a Cantonese chef living in Faraway Downs, Jacek Koman as the Faraway Downs saloon keeper Ivan, and Tony Barry as Sgt. Callahan who heads the Northern Territory police unit. Essie Davis is very good as King Carney’s daughter Catherine who is an admirer of Lady Ashley while Jack Thompson is quite funny and excellent as Lady Ashley’s alcoholic accountant Kipling Flynn. David Ngoombujarra is wonderful as the Drover’s brother-in-law Magarri who helps him out while Ben Mendelsohn is terrific as the army officer Captain Dutton who becomes a close ally for Lady Ashley.

David Gulpilil is amazing as the mysterious Aborigine King George who aids Lady Ashley and the Drover through the Outback despite his distrust towards the whites. Bryan Brown is great as the cattle baron King Carney as a man eager to have a monopoly in the cattle industry. Brandon Walters is remarkable as the half-Aborigine boy Nullah who becomes the one person in Lady Ashley’s life to make her stay in Australia as he also helps her become a rich cattle baron. David Wenham is superb as the very slimy and conniving Neil Fletcher who tries to do whatever to bring down Lady Ashley.

Hugh Jackman is marvelous as the Drover as a man who knows Australia better than anyone as he comes off as a very rugged yet stubborn man but also one who is very kind and can become a gentleman. Nicole Kidman is radiant as Lady Sarah Ashley as a woman who arrives to the country as an outsider only to become a more proud and fierce woman eager to lead and become someone not to be messed with. The scenes with Kidman and Jackman are just glorious to watch as the two have great chemistry together as they are among one of the film’s highlights.

Despite some of its shortcomings in its story, Australia is a still a visually-gorgeous and stellar film from Baz Luhrmann. Thanks to the leading performances of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman along with some amazing technical work and a supporting cast. The film is definitely a worthwhile film that has a lot to offer though it is a bit of a mess at times. In the end, Australia is a very good film from Baz Luhrmann.

Baz Luhrmann Films: Strictly Ballroom - William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet - Moulin Rouge - The Great Gatsby (2013 film) - The Auteurs #23: Baz Luhrmann

© thevoid99 2013

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Based on Tracy Chevalier’s novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring is the fictional story of how Johannes Vermeer created his famous painting as a young maid works for his tumultuous household. Directed by Peter Webber and screenplay by Olivia Hetreed, the film explores the world of Vermeer’s art as he finds a muse in this young woman who would inspire him to make one of his great paintings. Starring Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson, Essie Davis, Cillian Murphy, Judy Parfitt, Alakina Mann, and Tom Wilkinson. Girl with a Pearl Earring is a ravishing drama from Peter Webber.

Following an accident that left her tile-painting father (Chris McHallem) blind, Griet (Scarlett Johansson) goes to work as a maid for the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth). Arriving at his already tumultuous home where his wife Catharina (Essie Davis) is pregnant, Griet is assigned to help out around the house and clean Vermeer’s painting studio as he’s still working on a painting. Griet is also assigned to fetch meet for the family with their maid Tanneke (Joanna Scanlan) where Griet catches the eye of the butcher apprentice Pieter (Cillian Murphy). After Catharina gives birth to a new baby boy, Griet is asked by Catharina’s mother Maria Thins (Judy Parfitt) to send a message to Vermeer’s patron Pieter Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson) for a party to celebrate the baby’s birth and the completion of Vermeer’s new painting.

After taking notice of Griet cleaning the studio, Vermeer gets another idea for a new painting as she suddenly becomes his new assistant to help mix colors and such. Though Griet is having a wonderful relationship with Pieter, she is drawn to Vermeer’s world as she helps him fetch things while doing other duties around the house. After Vermeer completes a new painting and another child coming, Van Ruijven wants another painting as he wants Griet involved much to her discomfort. Vermeer makes a compromise to Van Ruijven to paint Griet alone as only Van Ruijven, Griet, Vermeer, and Maria Thins would know about this painting. With Catharina restless over Griet’s presence around Vermeer and Van Ruijven trying to go after her, Griet becomes uncomfortable with the role she’s playing. Even as it leads to a breakdown of what Vermeer is trying to make.

The film is a fictional idea of how Johannes Vermeer created one of the great paintings of the 17th Century told largely from the perspective of the girl in that painting. It’s a film that is about art and how this simple young, shy woman would inspire Vermeer to create some of these great paintings. Even as she is someone who understands what Vermeer is trying to make with these paintings where she would help him see things. Vermeer would let her be part of his world that only a few people can enter as she understands the idea of lighting and color that his wife couldn’t understand. Yet, there would people like Van Ruijven who wants Griet to be in his service as she hears stories about what Van Ruijven did to a maid some years earlier.

Olivia Hetreed’s screenplay does manage to create a story that is about these two people caught up in this world of paintings where Griet is this participant who reluctantly aids her master. Meanwhile, Vermeer is an artist who has a difficult time trying to create great paintings as he is also under pressure to deliver as his mother-in-law is trying to hide the family’s financial problems from her daughter. The reason they need a patron like Van Ruijven is so he can buy Vermeer’s paintings as he sets his sights on Griet. Yet, Griet is aware of Van Ruijven’s intentions while finding herself caught up in Vermeer’s world as there’s also an alternative in the form of Pieter who wants to give her a simpler life. For Griet, it adds to the sense of confusion as she would eventually be caught up in a world of trouble.

Peter Webber’s direction is intoxicating in the way he presents the film by re-creating 17th Century Delft as it represents a world where Griet is obviously an outsider. Many of Webber’s compositions has a truly astonishing look from the way he frames his actors in a scene as if he’s creating moving paintings. Even as he maintains a restraint in some of the drama with the exception of some emotionally-driven scenes that involves Catharina’s sense of resentment towards Griet. Webber also knows how to set up key moments of how Vermeer creates his paintings to establish this unique relationship between painter and this young maid. Overall, Webber creates a truly gorgeous yet engrossing drama about the world of art.

Cinematographer Eduardo Serra does magnificent work with the film‘s evocative photography from the blue-gray look of many of the wintertime exteriors to the lush array of lights for some of the film‘s nighttime interiors as if Serra is recreating the look of a Vermeer painting. Editor Kate Evans does nice work with the editing as a lot of the cutting is very straightforward while maintaining a leisured pace for the film. Production designer Ben van O, along with set decorator Cecile Heideman and art director Christina Schaffer, does fantastic work with the look of recreating 17th Century Delft with its bridges and homes along with the box that is the camera obscura.

Costume designer Dien van Straalen does superb work with the costumes from the lavish clothing of Van Ruijven as well as elegant dresses that Catharina and Maria Thins wear. Hair and makeup designer Jenny Shircore does terrific work with the look of Van Ruijven to display his grand personality. Sound editor Julian Slater does excellent work with the sound to capture the intimacy of Vermeer at work as well as some of the raucous sounds of the Vermeer household. The film’s score by Alexandre Desplat is a major highlight for the film for its evocative orchestral themes to play up the sense of drama and melancholia. Filled with lush string arrangements and tingling sounds of piano and other instruments, Desplat’s score is among one of his best as well as a key reason for the film’s success.

The casting by Leo Davis is incredible for the ensemble that is created as it includes some notable small roles from Joanna Scanlan as the head maid Tanneke, Gabrielle Reidy and Chris McHallem as Griet’s parents, and Anna Popplewell as Vermeer’s eldest daughter Maertge. Alakina Mann is wonderful as Vermeer troublemaking daughter Cornelia who despises Griet and is willing to do anything to make her life terrible. Essie Davis is excellent as Vermeer’s wife Catharina who tries to deal with her husband’s work while being unaware of what is at stake. Judy Parfitt is brilliant as Vermeer’s mother-in-law Maria Thins who is aware of the role Griet plays in the paintings as she also tries to shield the family’s financial issues from her daughter.

Cillian Murphy is wonderful as the butcher apprentice Pieter who becomes the one person who cares for Griet as he offers her a different, simpler world as he also brings a low-key charm to the performance. Tom Wilkinson is great as patron Van Ruijven who brings a larger-than-life presence as a man who is filled with greed and wanting to control Vermeer as well as trying to go after Griet. Colin Firth is remarkable as the painter Johannes Vermeer as he brings a very restrained yet touching performance as an artist who finds inspiration in his young maid while taking her under his wing.

Finally, there’s Scarlett Johansson in what is definitely an outstanding performance in the role of Griet. While her role doesn’t require for her to say a lot, Johansson’s performance is truly engaging in the way she displays the fragility of a young shy girl dealing with the new world she’s in while being drawn to the world of Vermeer. The performance is also very minimalist in the way Johansson portrays this young girl where she’s allowed to observe her surroundings as well as not overplaying the part to express her emotions in some very intense scenes. It is really a career-defining performance for an actress who was only 18 when she played the part.

The 2004 Region 1 DVD from Lions Gate presents the film in its original 2:35:1 theatrical aspect ratio for the widescreen format. Along with 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound in English with English and Spanish subtitles, the DVD features a few special features such as the film’s trailer and a music video by Truman for the song Girl with a Pearl that features Scarlett Johansson. The big special feature on the DVD is a 30-minute Anatomy of a Scene special from the Sundance Channel. Featuring interviews with Johansson, director Peter Webber, novelist Tracy Chevalier, and members of the film’s crew, they discuss the making of the banquet scene to reveal how it was made and what was to establish as it’s a truly brilliant special feature.

Girl with a Pearl Earring is a marvelous film from Peter Webber that features a phenomenal performance from Scarlett Johansson. Armed with a great ensemble cast that includes Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, and Cillian Murphy along with amazing technical work that includes Eduardo Serra’s cinematography and Alexandre Desplat’s score. It’s a film that explores the world of art as it presents the idea of how Vermeer made his famed painting. In the end, Girl with a Pearl Earring is a stunning yet mesmerizing film from Peter Webber.

© thevoid99 2012

Code 46

Originally Written and Posted on 7/21/07 w/ Additional Edits.

Directed by Michael Winterbottom and written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Code 46 is a futuristic film about a fraud investigator who falls in love with a woman who is breaking a law concerning human production in relations to clones. Shot in locations like Shanghai and India, the film is not entirely science fiction but mixed in with film-noir and drama. Starring Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Jeanne Balibar, and Nina Wadia. Code 46 is a mesmerizing, haunting film from the team of Frank Cottrell Bryce and Michael Winterbottom.

In a non-too distant future where genetics is now the law with people living in cities are referred to people living in the inside while those in poor worlds live in the outside. Traveling has also been restricted while human contact in relation to similar genetic strands that is a violation known as Code 46. For 25-year old Maria Gonzalez (Samantha Morton), who lives in Shanghai, she has been to both worlds as she keeps having a recurring dream that follows her closer and closer every year on her birthday to await her faith. Arriving into Shanghai to discover a frauds investigation is a Seattle investigator named William Geld (Tim Robbins). Sent to interview people at a company called the Sphinx that manufactures insurance documents, he meets the company's boss Bahkland (Om Puri). He finds the suspect in Maria as William finds himself attracted to her. Instead, William pins the crime on another person as he pursues Maria personally.

After engaging Maria, the two immediately have a conversation while she reveals that she creates fake insurance documents for friends and such to help in their traveling destinations. The two go to a club where she meets a friend Damian, (David Fahm) whom she gives a document, as the two leave to their apartment where a one-night stand occurs. Having to return home to Seattle where his wife Sylvie (Jeanne Balibar) and son Jim (Taro Sherabayani), William leaves Shanghai with Maria a free woman. Upon his return, he receives a report from his superior (Shelley King) about Damian as he has to come back for a further investigation. After talking to Bahkland, he learns that Maria has been taken to a facility outside of the city. After talking to a medic (Benedict Wong), he goes to the facility where he meets a receptionist (Nina Wadia) whom he tries to charm but this time around, doesn't work.

Eventually, he talks to a doctor (Essie Davis) in the facility who revealed that Maria had violated Code 46 where the result was that she had an old finger replaced while everything she known for 10 days had been erased. With little memory of William, Maria is also unaware that she was pregnant before getting it terminated by the law that is stated in Code 46. Needing to return home, William learns through an airline check-in person (Archie Panjabi) that his traveling papers have been expired. With Maria, now out of the facility, she was able to get a fake paper for William as the two leave for Jebel Ali in the Middle East where her father used to live. Hoping to live a life outside of codes and everything, the two embark on a relationship as eventually, William's genetic connection to Maria would catch up with them as would the genetic law.

While the film isn't really a dystopian film or a sci-fi in traditional formats. Michael Winterbottom and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce use these themes to convey a high-concept of how science can rule the land and also restrict certain laws. Similar to what Andrew Niccol's Gattaca had in terms of its plot. The film is really about a future where a man and woman couldn't fall in love due to the genetic similarities it has. While the film might be overwhelming to some audiences for its conceptual tone by Boyce's script. The film's love story and subsequent tone of alienation is well-written by Boyce as the characters are explored as well as the landscapes their in.

The direction of Winterbottom is superb in revealing this sense of alienation. Especially the locations that he uses throughout the film. While a traditional sci-fi film, even in Hollywood standards, would create sets, gadgets, and other things to make a film look and feel futuristic. Winterbottom instead, goes for an approach where it's the locations whether it's the airport, bridges, and skyscrapers in Shanghai to make the film look like it's the future. There's gadgets seen but they're similar to what people are using now.

It's just that Winterbottom approached it, as if he's making something low-budget. The scenes in Shanghai, notably the exterior sequences have a dream-like setting that is similar to not just the films of Wong Kar-Wai but also Sofia Coppola's 2003 classic Lost in Translation. The film doesn't take itself too seriously as Winterbottom creates a unique vision to his film.

Cinematographers Marcel Zyskind and Alwin H. Kuchler create a unique, dreamy look to the film's Shanghai sequences while more documentary-like, hand-held camera style that Winterbottom is known for is seen through the India section of the film. The camera work really signifies the different feel and look of the inside/outside world of the future. Production designer Mark Tidesley and art directors Mark Digby and Denis Schnegg creates wonderful sets and objects to convey the futuristic feel like the phones that are seen on screen to the memory diaries. Costume designer Natalie Ward doesn't go for an entirely futuristic feel but rather a look where the clothes look more like clothes seen in present time.

Editor Peter Christelis brings a nice, stylistic approach to the film's editing with use of jump-cuts and slow speeds to convey the emotions of the film and its characters. Sound editor Joakim Sundstrom and recordist Stuart Wilson add to that emotional, dreamy tone with the film's sound to convey that dystopian feel where everything feels a bit overcrowded and claustrophobic to the number of people talking and such. The film's score composed by David Holmes and Stephen Hilton is very haunting as its filled with dreamy, ambient-like tones to give that futuristic feel. The film's soundtrack features cuts ranging from Indian and Chinese music, Fatboy Slim, Coldplay, a cover of Bob Marley's No Woman, No Cry, and a hilarious karaoke version of The Clash's Should I Stay Or Should I Go? sung by none other than Mick Jones of the Clash.

The film's cast is unique as it features memorable small performances from Essie Davis, Archie Panjabi, David Fahm, Jeanne Balibar, Taro Sherabayani, Benedict Wong, Nina Wadia, Shelley King, Togo Igawa as William's driver early in the film, Nabil Elouahabi as a vendor, and Nabil Massad as the Jebel Ali hotel owner. Om Puri is great as the charming, laid-back Bahkland, who is trying to watch everything in his company while being just as complex to William.

Tim Robbins is in brilliant form as William Geld. Without going into any kind of dramatic form of acting, Robbins brings a subtlety and wit to his role as an investigator who is attracted to his own suspect. The restraint Robbins give is wonderful as he has great chemistry with his co-star Samantha Morton. Morton is brilliant and complex as Maria Gonzalez as a woman with recurring dreams and her own ideals about the world. Morton also displays a grace and rawness that is rarely seen in film as she proves to be an enchantress on screen. She never gives a dull moment throughout the entire film.

While it's nowhere near some of Michael Winterbottom's films of the 2000s, Code 46 is still an enchanting and intoxicating film that includes great performances from Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton along with Frank Cottrell Boyce's high-concept script. While some of the film's science and political content might confuse audiences, the love story and dreamy tone does have something to offer. Still, the film shows what Michael Winterbottom could do in any type of genre where he goes for something unconventional rather than what is expected. In the end, Code 46 is a superb film from Michael Winterbottom and company.

Michael Winterbottom Films: (Rosie the Great) - (Forget About Me) - (Under the Sun) - (Love Lies Bleeding) - (Family (1993 TV film)) - (Butterfly Kiss) - (Go Now) - (Jude) - Welcome to Sarajevo - I Want You - (With or Without You (1998 film)) - Wonderland (1999 film) - The Claim - 24 Hour Party People - In This World - 9 Songs - Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story - The Road to Guantanamo - A Mighty Heart - Genova - The Shock Doctrine (2009 film) - The Killer Inside Me - The Trip (2010 film) - (Trishna) - (Everyday) - The Look of Love - (The Trip to Italy) - (The Face of An Angel)

© thevoid99 2012