CODE 46 (2003) (Blu-ray Review)

CODE 46 (2003)

Label: Olive Films
Release Date: February 16th 2016
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 93 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Jeanne Balibar,, Om Puri, Nina Fog

Code 46 is a forbidden love story masquerading as a small scope science fiction film, set in a dystopian future where the government stringently controls human-breeding based on genetic compatibility. If a couple are too closely linked genetically they are forbidden from having children together, this is what is known as a Code 46 violation, from which the movie takes it's name.

Into this future we have a government investigator William Geld played by Tim Robbins (The Player), who is sent to Shanghai from Seattle to investigate a case of passport forgery committed by a young woman named Maria Gonzalez played by Samantha Morton (A.I. Artificial Intelligence). Perhaps fueled by an empathy virus he's been infected with William  falls heads over heel for the woman he's investigating in a short 24-hour period, together they embark on a whirlwind romance, with him covering up her crime, before heading back to Seatte the next day, home to his wife and child.

Once he returns he cannot forget her, and when the case is re opened after a death he is sent back to Shanghai to finish the investigation. There he tracks down Maria to a medical facility where she been given an abortion for a Code 46 violation, additionally she has had all memories of her encounter with William erased, which sort of brought to mind Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind, but on  whole other dystopian future levels, these are government sponsored mind-wipes and abortion, scary stuff.

I love these small scope sci-fi movies, this one in particular presents quite a few themes and threads which are brought to the screen rather matter-of-factly and without the burden of a lot of over explanation about the how and why of things, which might bother some but I liked. It portrays the one-world of the future as ethnically diverse, there's a lot of language cross-pollination, which is another a nice touch. Visually the movie imagines the brave-new-world as nothing too extraordinary, this is grounded in a reality not too dissimilar from our own, peppered with stylish and slightly futuristic aesthetic, with walled-in cities for the privileged citizens and very basic shanty towns on the outside where criminals are exiled.

Robbins comes across as a bit tired or bland in the role of the philandering investigator, it sort of reminded me of Bill Murray in Lost in Translation by way of Gattaca. I think this is a choice, not a ding on his performance by any means. Samantha Morton is desirable as the forger and love interest of the story, I can see the appeal for Robbins character, she is a mysterious and attractive young woman, Morton is a strong actress with a undeniable presence. Like Robbins she pays it a bit subdued, though there's a lot of depth just below the surface of her character, who also narrates the story. I have not seen a ton of her stuff but f you would like to see her boil over in a seething performance check her out in the thriller The Harvest from director John McNaughton, in which she is straight-up terrifying. 

The disc from Olive Films presents the film with a pleasing 1080p transferred framed in the scope aspect ratio. Colors are strong and nicely saturated, skin tones look good all the way around. The disc comes with only the option to view the movie with an English language DTS-HD Stereo 2.0 option, with no subtitles. The dialogue is crisp and clean, and the evocative score from David Holmes sounds just fine, but I do wish they would have carried over the surround audio option from the DVD. 
  
The only extras on the disc is a trailer for the movie, not carried over from the 2004 DVD are a selection of deleted scene and the "Obtaining Cover: Inside Code 46" featurette, so if you are upgrading you may want to hold onto the DVD.

The movie has a haunting quality about it, the ending particularly sad and thought provoking, which caught me by surprise since most science fiction movies don't have much of emotional impact on me, but that is why I say this is a love story wrapped in the trappings of a sci-fi film, at the core this is a story about forbidden love in a cold future world. If a mash-up of Lost in Translation and Gattaca sounds like good time to you I think you will enjoy this one. 3/5

THE HARVEST (2015)

THE HARVEST (2015) 

Label: Scream Factory, IFC Midnight
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 104 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen 
Director: John McNaughton
Cast: Peter Fonda, Michael Shannon, Natasha Calis, Charlie Tahan, Samantha Morton, Leslie Lyles, Meadow Williams

Director John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) is back with a new reality-based thriller concerning Maryann (Natasha Calis), a young girl who moves in with her grandparents (Peter Fonda, Leslie Lyles) following the death of her parents. She befriends a terminally-ill young boy nxt door named Andy (Charlie Tahan) who is home-schooled by his mother, a doctor named Catherine (Samantha Morton), and his stay-at-home father Richard (Michael Shannon). 

Andy's mobility is restricted and can only get around via a wheelchair, not having the use of his legs, and spends most f his time in his bed playing XBOX for the most part. Once young Maryann arrives on scene he now has an XBOX partner and his demeanor begins to change for the better, the two become fast friends much to the disappointment of his insanely overprotective mother, who only tolerates Maryann's intrusions for a short time before banning the young woman from her home altogether. The two kids just cannot be separated though, and they two remain friends through secretive meet-ups when his parents are not at home. . 

What will strike you right away is how unraveled his mother Catherine becomes once Maryann shows up at the house, she begins to act erratically, taking her frustration out on poor Andy and her subdued husband, the guy played by Shannon seems kind hearted enough but he is brow-beaten by his overly aggressive wife who dominates him and Andy at home, and the death-glare she gives young Maryann is scary stuff. Poor Richard is more sympathetic towards Andy and his new found friend, allowing her to come into the home against Catherine's wishes, which only further angers her, causing her to act more erratic and violently. 

Maryann begins to investigate the family knowing that something is rotten in the house and soon she discovers a dark secretly kept away in the basement, something Andy has no knowledge of. Without giving too much away what she finds is pretty damning, she takes to the Internet to dig deeper and what she discovers is startling stuff involving a missing child, when she brings it to the attention of her grandfather he simply shrugs it off as a work of fiction from her own imagination, something  spurred by her inability to play with her new found friend, which as a viewer I always find frustrating, that cinematic cliche of adults not believing anything a kid has to say, no matter how detailed and informed they may seem to be, I hate it. What transpires afterward is sort of insane and more than a little bit chilling, and finally quickens the pulse of a film that for too long runs cold for far too long, so I think that this one might fail to find a wider audience, but for those who don't mind a slow-burner of a thriller there's a lot to enjoy enjoy here, and Morton's over-the-top performance is a fun watch. 

The Harvest has haunted me for a few days now, as these more reality-based horror movies tend to do, with a supernatural or more over-driven horror film I can dismiss it outright, they're too fantastic to be believed, but with these 'neighbor's next door with dark secrets' type of thrillers there's always a layer of diabolical plausibility that weighs on my afterward, for what might be going on behind the closed doors next door is more frightening than any ghost or masked murderer in my opinion. Add to that a what-would-you-do in that situation as a parent scenario, and you have an emotionally charged thriller with more than one dimension. Great to see McNaughton back in the director's chair for a feature length film after a fifteen year absence, this slow-burner might not set the world on fire but it is a tense and atmospheric movie with a top-notch cast and definitely worth a watch. 2.5/5

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with director John McNaughton and producer Steven A. Jones
- Theatrical Trailer