This screening will present the black-and-white version of the film created by director Robert Longo in 2021.

Based on a short story by cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson, Johnny Mnemonic gives a glimpse of technological dystopia years before The Matrix (1999) was made. In the fictional 2021, no data transfer is safe, and corporations rely on human couriers to store and transport classified information. Keanu Reeves stars as the titular Johnny, who is pursued by yakuza boss Takahashi (Takeshi Kitano) for the valuable data in his head. Gibson’s sense of irony and Reeves’s overt, robotic performance match perfectly in this futuristic satire.

Although Johnny Mnemonic was conceived as an art film inspired by B-movie aesthetics, director Robert Longo and screenwriter Gibson were pressured by executives to create a summer blockbuster after Reeves ascended to superstardom with Speed (1994). Due to studio interference and misguided expectations, Johnny Mnemonic bombed at the box office and was derided by critics. Around the time of the film’s twenty-fifth anniversary, Longo turned it into black and white—as he had originally intended. This monochromatic new look breathes new life to this cult classic, accentuating its tech noir vibes. Despite its supposed fade into obscurity, Johnny Mnemonic has proven to be prescient and influential beyond the realm of film, as seen in the megahit video game Cyberpunk 2077, which features Reeves as the character Johnny Silverhand.

Robert Longo (b. 1953, United States) is an artist, photographer, filmmaker, and musician. His hyperrealistic drawings are known for looking like black-and-white photographs. In the 1980s, he directed several music videos, including New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle (1986). Johnny Mnemonic (1995) is his only feature film. In 2025, he has his latest solo exhibition at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.