Andrew nicol

The stories conceived by Andrew Niccol never remain mere entertainment. This is a filmmaker who is the complete opposite of frivolity, a characteristic that unfortunately is so often associated with the science fiction genre. There are always exceptions, of course; all you have to do is think about classics like2001: a space odyssey orBlade Runner , to give two emblematic examples. Well, Niccol’s films enter that list of films that offer an enormous amount of ethical suggestions and reflections about the human condition, related to the advances of modern science and technological aspirations towards making a better world.

Born in Paraparaumu, a town in New Zealand, on June 10, 1964, Andrew Niccol dedicated himself to advertising before deciding to make the leap to fiction films. He began his career in London, where he shot commercials for ten years. He then moved to Hollywood, where he made contact with the influential and powerful producer Scott Rudin. He presented a very ambitious project to him: the story of a man whose entire life was part of a television program without his knowledge. The idea was fantastic, but the budget to make this film was very high and Rudin did not dare to grant the direction of this script to a newcomer. He therefore chose such an experienced director to carry it out, with a budget of 80 million dollars. The result was the extraordinary filmThe Truman Show , which was directed by Peter Weir in 1998, and starred Jim Carrey . The film achieved great critical and public success and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay, Niccol’s work.

Andrew Niccol must have felt very bad not being chosen to shoot his first script, although certainly, things could have been much worse. There is no doubt that Peter Weir is an extraordinary director and perhaps he made the best of the material he had. In any case, over the years Niccol declared that his big mistake was having offered the producers such an expensive film as his first project. And it is that investors were only willing to shell out 20 million dollars for a first film by Niccol, then a complete unknown. The consequence was that the Truman story was delayed and found its way into other hands, as we have already said, and that Niccol then offered to direct another story also written by him. This time, the budget was kept to a minimum and he received the go-ahead.Gattaca (1997) therefore became the first film that made Niccol known, although in reality his first written story was that of Truman.

Both The Truman Show and Gattaca talk about the dangers of modernity, a world where appearances and images prevail and not the value of each human being. In the first story, the media have become gods that recreate reality at will, and don’t care if they use humans as guinea pigs for it. In Gattaca the argument is very different, but in the same way reference is made to the authenticity of the human spirit, to freedom above programming and even genetics, which does not limit the possibilities of free will. A third film would still have to come to complete what might be termed the director’s “Authenticity Trilogy.” Is aboutS1m0ne (2002), a film that directly focuses the shot on the use of the image to deceive the viewer with a reality that does not exist, in this case an actress recreated by computer will become a media star. The film, although probably inferior to the previous ones, is undoubtedly a premonitory of where cinema is heading: to the interpretation of digital actors.

The director also fell in love with the protagonist of S1m0ne , an Australian model who had never acted in a movie called Rachel Roberts . They married and currently have two children, Jack and Ava. Later, Roberts has sporadically participated in some episodes of television series.

In 2004, Niccol concocted an ironic story of a man who, due to diplomatic problems, was locked up in an airport, in no man’s land. The story, titledThe terminal ended up being directed with notable success by Steven Spielberg , based on a script by several writers. And in 2005 Niccol wrote and directedThe warlord . The Australian director thereby turned his filmography around and leaving deeper issues aside, he criticized arms smuggling and the hypocrisy of capitalist countries. The film, starring a decadent Nicolas Cage , did not get the expected reception and Niccol remained inactive for six years.

But in 2011 the most genuine Niccol has returned withIn Time , one of those futuristic stories, which can be read as a fable of the modern world. It is a sci-fi thriller that imagines that humans have only a limited lifespan of 25 years. If they want more they will have to buy it. The film is played by rising actors like Justin Timberlake and Olivia Wilde . But it is seen that Niccol has more ideas than in the bedroom, because what will be his fifth film as a director is already announced for 2013: The Guest . He himself will write the script based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer (author of the literary saga oftwilight ). Saoirse Ronan will star.