Niccol, who directed gene-divide futureshock Gattaca, wrote Jim Carrey into an (at the time) unthinkable reality TV nightmare in The Truman Show, conjured up a CG movie star with S1MONE and riffed on Logan's Run for a literal Time is Money dystopia with In Time, may seem an odd choice for this adaptation. Not only is the central relationship between two people in the same body, a device which obviously worked more easily in the novel, but also the teenage romance angle is new to Niccol. However these oddly incongruent elements hold with them the chance of something special.
Now that we're in the era of streaming films at the push of a button, and have access to an ever growing library of new releases and the wonderfully inviting back catalogue of hits and misses, I think our attitudes towards films and filmmakers is changing. You watch The Host, you enjoy the future world, the mirror cars, the creepy tech and the dystopian malaise and in true Starship Troopers fashion you want to know more. A quick search reveals that S1MONE, Niccol's 2002 gaze into the future of celebrity culture is also playing on NOW TV, so you can sit back and enjoy some more of the director's work. Now that we have an enviable library of films at our fingertips we're more likely to explore, and that leads to the best kind of discoveries.
I tend not to like single films, but to find myself attached to directors. Hitchcock, Kubrick, Gilliam, Lynch and so on are the people who’s every piece of work I have to see. Each of those attachments began with a viewing of a film - for Hitchcock it was Vertigo, Kubrick - The Shining, Gilliam - Brazil and so on. That single, irreversible, moment of discovery meant my connection to these artists was set, and would continue through the good films and the bad.
Every time I find a new director, or a new writer or actor I feel that same sense of discovery and excitement to see what else they've done. You might choose to watch The Host this week and go on an Andrew Niccol odyssey through his various future worlds, you might see the always excellent Saoirse Ronan and plough through her back catalogue (start with Byzantium - an underrated gem from last year), or you might decide to finally give that Twilight marathon a go...
In essence every film you watch holds the potential to change you. It could be a well-crafted emotional gut-punch which alters your perspective on life or it could be an artist's vision which inspires your own sensibilities. I'm not saying The Host will change your life, but it might...
