ATISAN NOVELS

Code 46 (2003)
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Cast: Tim Robbins (William) and Samantha Morton (Maria)

code 46

article 1
any human being who shares the same nuclear gene set as another human being is deemed to be genetically identical. the relations of one are the relations of all.

due to IVF, DI embryo splitting and cloning techniques it is necessary to prevent any accidental or deliberate genetically incestuous reproduction.

therefore:

i. all prospective parents should be genetically screened before conception. if they have 100%, 50% or 25% genetic identity, they are not permitted to conceive

ii. if the pregnancy is unplanned, the foetus, must be screened. any pregnancy resulting from 100%, 50%, or 25% genetically related parents must be terminated immediately.

iii. if the parents were ignorant of their genetic relationship then medical intervention is authorised to prevent any further breach of code 46

iv. if the parents knew they were genetically related prior to conception it is a criminal breach of code 46

The future in this film is a future not much different from our present—with its inclusion and exclusion in/of societies, and marginalization of certain individuals against a monopolized/centralized power—and still it revolves on something as ancient as love and intimacy, and the things men are willing to do and defy for it. I loved the premise (that’s why I bought the pirated DVD; besides, I loved the silence in Tim Robbins' acting in The Shawshank Redemption) but I didn’t like the idea that it may all boil down to something merely Oedipal (not that this complex is unimportant). In addition, the film was not able to share with me something new about memory. Have we already exhausted everything that can be said about memory and forgetting? Is this the reason for forgetting, to have illusions that we come face to face with something new everyday? Was it Heraclitus who said that we cannot cross the same river twice? Is it true? I mean, is there really no probability at all that I am confronted by the same thing over and over again? That I just easily forget things so that I will not get exhausted by the monotony of having to repeat myself again and again? That even remembering some things is just a function of this illusion?