Cypher (2002)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 2001
Running Times:
Format: colour     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: DTS     Dolby Digital

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Gaylord Films/Headspace/Pandora Filmproduktion
Executive Producer: Shebnem Askin
Producers: Hunt Lowry, Paul Federbush, Casey La Scala, Wendy Grean
Associate Producer: Richard J. Anobile
Production Manager: Lynn Mallay
Production Coordinators: Linda Lockett, Vanessa Brustolin
Assistant Production Coordinators: Katharine Gray, Darron Leiren-Young

SCRIPT
Script: Brian King

DIRECTION
Director: Vincenzo Natali
2nd Unit Director: William Phillips
1st Assistant Director: Bill Spahic
2nd Unit 1st Assistant Director: Ray Elias
2nd Assistant Director: Eric J. Robertson
2nd Unit 2nd Assistant Director: Jeremy Graham
3rd Assistant Director: Gregory Besky
Assistant Director: Greg Sigurdson (uncredited)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Derek Rogers
2nd Unit Director of Photography: David Greene
Camera Operator: Derek Rogers
2nd Unit Camera Operator: Antony Ellis
B Camera Operator: David Perkins (uncredited)
Steadicam Operators: Tim Merkle, Michael Fylyshtan
2nd Unit Wescam Operator: Mark Hyrma
1st Assistant Camera: Rob Mountjoy
2nd Assistant Camera: Jordan Cushing
2nd Unit 2nd Assistant Camera: Tony Oliver
2nd Unit Focus Puller: Chris Higginson
Electrician: David Watts
Best Boy Electric: Derek Porter
Key Rigging Grip: Dave Erlichman
Video Playback/Operator: James Tamblyn
Stills: Brooke Palmer, Michael Gibson
Lab: Command Post/Toybox, Toronto, Canada

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Bert Kish
Assistant Editor: Colin Kish
Post Production Manager: Richard J. Anobile

MUSIC
Music: Michael Andrews
Executive Music Producer: Debra A. Baum
Music Recording Engineer: Eddie Miller
Music Editor: Tom Kramer
Music Consultant: Dana Sano

SOUND
Sound Designer/Supervisor: Craig Henighan
Sound Mixer: Stephen Bourne
Boom Operator: Jorge Muniz
Re-Recording Mixers: Todd Warren, Andrew Tay, Christian Carruthers
Co-Supervising Sound Editor: Stephen Barden
Sound Editors: Jill Purdy, Joe Bracciale
1st Assistant Sound Editor: J.R. Fountain
Assistant Sound Editor: Rose Gregoris
Trainee Assistant Sound Editor: Alex Bullick
Dialogue Editor: Jo Bracciale
ADR Editor: Jill Purdy
Foley Recordist: Peter Persaud
Foley Artist: John Sievert
Dolby Sound Consultant: Thomas Kodros

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Key Make Up: Debi Drennan
2nd Unit Key Make Up: Joan Chell
Make Up: Leslie Dumbleton, Julia Carter, Mira Lee
Key Hair: Katarina Chovanec
2nd Unit Key Hair: Roger Dalglish
Hair: Daniele Goldschlager, Toni Mastropietro, Ron Rodda, Shawn Smandych
Costume Designer: Tamara Winston
Assistant Costume Designer: Robin Biggleston
Wardrobe: Laura Wentzell
2nd Unit On-Set Wardrobe: Deborah Steward

SPECIAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS
Special Make Up Effects: Paul Jones

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Supervisor: Brock Jolliffe
Special Effects Key: Rudy Rivas
Special Effects Technician: Jon Davis
Key Electronics Technician: Peter Edmonds

VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects: C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures
Visual Effects Supervisor: Bo Munroe
Visual Effects Director: Bret Culp
Visual Effects: Maria A. Gordon
Technical Director: Ken Ouellette
3D Animators: David E. Nunez, Kurt D. Williams
Compositor: Ken Ouellette
Digital Compositors: Alphonso Young, Nick Hsieh, Paul DeOliveira
Model Shop Supervisor: Dave Asling
Key Model Maker: Dan Brooks
Titles Designer: John G. Furniotis
Titles: Film Effects Inc (Toronto)

CinemaHD Services: Command Post/Toybox
Post Production Supervisor: Chad Malbon
CinemaHD Editor: Will Hearn
FireHD Editor: Brian Reid
FireHD Assistant: Peter Gallo
CinemaHD Colourist: Kenn Elliott
Scene Enhancements: Mark Goldberg
Digital Film Technicians: Eric Myles, Andrew Pascoe, Kevin Chandoo
VP Digital Film: Michael Ellis
VP Operations: Steve Robinson
Post Production Manager: Bruce Jones

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Jasna Stefanovich
Art Director: Jim Phillips
1st Assistant Art Director: Brad Greaves
Set Designer: Dan Norton
Set Supervisor: Koreann Ciandre
Set Decorator Coordinator: Moe Laverty
Set Decorator: Megan Less
Props: Emerson Doerksen
2nd Unit Props: Craig Grant
Key Scenic Artist: Jason Herriott
Conceptual Designer/Illustrator: Todd Cherniawsky
Storyboard Artist: Riccardo Durante

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Lisa Burling
2nd Unit Continuity: Melanie Henrich
Production Accountant: Heather McIntosh
Assistant to Hunt Lowry: Aileen Kiernan
Assistant to Vincenzo Natali: Andrei Natali
Production Drivers: R.Z. Anglin, Rick Anglin
Armourer: Charlie Taylor
Gun Handler: Charles Taylor
Animal Wrangler: Jane Conway
Publicist: Marie A. Nazar

LOCATIONS
Location Manager: Gabe Fallus
Locations: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator: Alison Reid
Stunts: John MacDonald, Tom Farr, Alison reid, Sandy Feldman, Jamie Jones

CASTING
Casting: June Lowry Johnson, John Buchan
Background Casting: Nancy Botting Harrison
Assistant Casting: Jenny Lewis
Voice Casting: Voice Masters Toronto and Vancouver

CAST
Jeremy Northam (Morgan Sullivan)
Lucy Liu (Rita)
Nigel Bennett (Finster)
Timothy Webber (Callaway)
David Hewlett (Dunn)
Kari Matchett (Diane)
Kristina Nicoll (Amy)
Joseph Scoren (Digicorp technician 1)
Stephen Brown (Digicorp technician 2)
Arnold Finnock (pilot in mensroom)
Jocelyn Snowdon (stewardess to Buffalo)
Boyd Banks (Buffalo waiter)
Dan Duran (Buffalo speaker 1)
Valerie Buhagiar (Buffalo speaker 2)
Roberta Angelica (stewardess to Omaha)
George Santino (Rita's agent 1)
Nelson Tynes (Rita's agent 2)
Denis Akiyama (Omaha speaker)
Vickie Papavs (Boise desk clerk)
Murray Furrow (Boise hotel janitor)
Scott McLaren (Boise convention waiter)
David Bolt (Boise speaker 1)
Len Carlson (Boise speaker 2)
Les Porter (Boise man in white coat)
Bruce McFee (Boise businessman)
Judy Sinclair (elderly woman in elevator)
Shanly Trinidad (Boise gate 15 clerk)
Anne Marie Scheffler (Boise stewardess)
Mike O'Shea (Sunways security guard)
Andrew Moodie (Sunways neuro technician)
Malcolm Xerxes (Sunways technician 1)
Matthew Sharp (Sunways technician 2)
Peter Mensah (vault security)
David Bryant (pilot 2 in washroom)
Alec Stockwell (Digicorp tecnician 2)
Matyt Cooke (Digicorp technician 3)
Marcus Hutchings (Jamison)

PLOT SUMMARY

Bored and unemployed accountant Morgan Sullivan signs up to be a corporate spy for the huge Digicorp. While on an assignment, he meets a beautiful young woman, Rita, who tells him that he's been brainwashed by Digicorp's ruthless boss, Ed Finster, and she seemingly offers him a way out with the help of Frank Calloway, head of rival corporation Sunways. But soon Sullivan is having trouble telling reality from fantasy and must seek out the mysterious deep-cover agent Sebastian Rook who may the only man who can help him.

Cypher marked the welcome return of Cube (1997) director Vincenzo Natali with a stylish cyberpunk thriller that owes an obvious debt to Philip K. Dick. Cypher is a film that demands total attention throughout - its complex narrative takes so many twists and turns that letting your concentration slip for just a moment could leave you as bewildered as its protagonist. But it's also a film that rewards your attention with an absorbing and intelligent SF thriller the likes of which we rarely see these days. Readers of one Philip K. Dick novel in particular will see the twist ending coming very early on, but it's still effective and the film boasts excellent performances, particularly from Northam in a difficult role. Lucy Liu all too often gives the same one-note performance in everything she does, but here she's perfect for the role of mysterious femme fatale who's the key unlocking the final mystery. Natali has barely worked since his brilliant debut Cube in 1997. Apart from the short Elevated and a handful of episodes of the TV show Earth: Final Conflict, we saw nothing of him for six years. but Cypher showed that he'd lost none of his skills and was still a director whose work will be eagerly awaited by genre fans in the future.

France
Theatrical Distributor: Metropolitan Filmexport

International
Theatrical Distributor: Pandora Film

Japan
Theatrical Distributors: GAGA Communications/Humax Pictures Inc

Russia
Theatrical Distributor: Paradise

Spain
Theatrical Distributor: Manga Films S.L.

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Miramax Films

France
Rating: U

2002
Catalonian International Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Best Actor (Jeremy Northam) - winner
Best Film (Vincenzo Natali) - nominated

2003
Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, Belgium
Golden Raven (Vincenzo Natali) - winner

Fantasporto
International Fantasy Film Award Best Actor (Jeremy Northam) - winner
Best Special Effects (Bret Culp, Bob Munroe) - winner
International Fantasy Film Special Jury Award (Vincenzo Natali) – winner (tied with Rokugatsu no hebi (2002))
International Fantasy Film Award Best Film (Vincenzo Natali) - nominated

2001
May
9: USA - production begins

October
7: Spain – shown at the Sitges Film Festival

November
2: Spain – sjown at the Semana de Cine Fantástico y de Terror de San Sebastián

2003
January
18: Japan – theatrical release
30: France – shown at the Gerardmer Film Festival

February
26: Portugal – shown at the Fantasporto Film Festival

March
22: Belgium – shown at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Films
26: France – theatrical release

Kondo no meiro wa kioku no naka

Company Man - working title

LINKS

WEB LINKS
Official Site

MAGAZINES

Premiere no.313 (March 2003) p.52 (France)
ilustrated review, credits

Starburst no.295 (February 2003) pp.54-57 (UK)
illustrated article, synopsis

accountants, brainwashing, corporations, drugs, the future, hallucinations, industrial espionage, secret agents, spies

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008