Simone (2002 film)
| Simone | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Andrew Niccol |
| Produced by | Andrew Niccol |
| Written by | Andrew Niccol |
| Starring |
Al Pacino Catherine Keener Evan Rachel Wood Rachel Roberts Jay Mohr Winona Ryder |
| Music by | Carter Burwell |
| Cinematography | Edward Lachman |
| Edited by | Paul Rubell |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
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Release date
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Running time
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118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million |
| Box office | $19.6 million |
Simone (stylized as S1MØNE) is a 2002 American science-fiction satire film written, produced and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, Evan Rachel Wood, Rachel Roberts, Jay Mohr and Winona Ryder.
When Nicola Anders (Winona Ryder), the star of out-of-favor director Viktor Taransky's (Al Pacino) new film, refuses to finish it, Taransky is forced to find a replacement. Contractual requirements totally prevent using her image in the film, so he must re-shoot. Instead, Viktor experiments with a new computer program he inherits from late acquaintance Hank Aleno (Elias Koteas) which allows creation of a computer-generated woman which he can easily animate to play the film's central character. Viktor names his virtual actor "Simone", a name derived from the computer program's title, Simulation One. Seamlessly incorporated into the film, Simone (Rachel Roberts) gives a fantastic performance, exactly controlled by Viktor. The film is immediately a huge success. The studio, and soon the world, ask "who is Simone?"
Viktor initially claims that Simone is a recluse and requests her privacy be respected, but that only intensifies media demands for her to appear. Viktor intends to reveal the secret of her non-existence after the second picture. To satisfy demand, he executes a number of progressively ambitious stunts relying on misdirection and cinematic special effects technology. Eventually it escalates to simulated remote location video live interviews.
In one instance, two determined tabloid reporters discover Viktor used out-of-date stock photography as a background during an interview instead of being on that site as claimed and blackmail him into getting Simone to make a live appearance. He arranges her to perform a song at a stadium event appearing in a cloud of smoke and then using flawless holographic technology. The perception of being in person is reinforced with realtime visualization on the stadium's monitors. Simone becomes even more famous, simultaneously becoming a double winner for the Academy Award for Best Actress, tying with herself in the process.
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