Tech Noir
ANON Clive Owen hunts a killer in a world without privacy in Andrew Niccol’s sci-fi mystery
I There’s no war for privacy,” says writer/director Andrew Niccol, whispering down the phone to Teasers like Gene Hackman in The Conversation. “We gave it all up for convenience.” He’s not wrong. With personal information the cost of entry to social media, it seems we’re perfectly happy to let friends, family and faceless multinational conglomerates in on every detail of our lives. But how long before everything we see becomes a matter of public record?
That’s the conceit of Anon, Niccol’s latest high-concept sci-fi following Gattaca and The Truman Show (which he wrote). It’s set in a “parallel present” where our every move is monitored by a biotech implant called The Mind’s Eye, crime has become “an act of insanity”, and the police pick up perps minutes after they’ve broken the law. Sal (Clive Owen) is a high-ranking detective who tackles a seemingly impossible murder that threatens the security of the infallible system society is built on.
“Suddenly he’s entering a time when nothing is provable,” Niccol explains.
“Sal has reached a point where he literally cannot believe his eyes.”
Presenting a timeless world where bleeding edge tech exists alongside retro cars, Niccol cast Owen as a bridge between old and new. “I loved the juxtaposition of a noir detective utilising modern technology,” he says. Adding to the film’s distinctive style, Anon’s world has been drained of colour, over which The Mind’s Eye provides a constant barrage of information, with much of the film presented from Sal’s perspective. “I was drawn to that, rather than doing something Blade Runner-esque,” Niccol explains. “The most colour you see is red, because it’s a serial killer film.”
Meanwhile, the mere existence of the anonymous The Girl is a mystery to be solved. But Niccol had his enigmatic femme fatale in mind from the start. “If you want a story told through the eyes, you don’t need to go much further than Amanda Seyfried,” he says of his In Time star. It’s through her that Niccol sees a thematic consistency in his work dating back to Gattaca. “I’m always drawn to, ‘How does humanity cope with this technology?’” he says. “This girl has found a way to disappear.”
Shot for a “very modest budget”, Anon is the latest film to premiere via a streaming service (Sky Cinema) and in cinemas simultaneously. Niccol has embraced the new world order. “I understand the realities of the world,” he admits. “A film should work on all mediums.”
ETA | 11 MAY / ANON OPENS NEXT MONTH.