Simone

Movie director Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) has had it with actors. When the high-maintenance star of his new movie (Winona Ryder) quits, Viktor finds the perfect substitute to star in his movie. She's perfect because she will do anything he says. And she will do anything he says because she isn't human -- she is a computer simulation living in a hard drive. He can take a little bit of Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Greta Garbo, and a dozen other stars and then program her to do, say, wear, or digitally appear anywhere he wants to. "Simone" causes a sensation, and many people are only too willing to claim that they have met her in order to make themselves seem more important. And Simone's apparent unwillingness to meet with members of the press only adds to the public fascination with her. But Viktor's creation takes over. Viktor rationalizes his deception as just one small step beyond current practice and decries Hollywood's "irrational allegiance to flesh and blood." According to him, "the only real truth is the work."