A.I.: Artificial Intelligence Review
by Alex Ioshpe (ioshpe AT online DOT no)October 9th, 2001
REVIEW BY ALEX IOSHPE © 2001
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Written and Directed by Steven Spielberg
Produced by Stanley Kubrick, Kathleen Kennedy, Bonnie Curtis
Starring: Haley Joel Osmont, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, William Hurt
Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and violent images
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RATING: 10/10
"Artificial Intelligence" is one of the most anticipated and awaited movies of the year -- a project that Steven Spileberg and Stanley Kubrick have talked about for years - polished and developed for a decade, a project they wanted to make together. When Kubrick died in 1999, Spielberg decided to continue on his own. And in a way creating a memorial, a loving tribute, a celebration of his friend, which will remain in the endless ocean of motion pictures for ever.
Rumors and expectations haunted its production. Spielberg's and Kubrick's directorial styles were so different and their visions so diverse that a collaboration between the two seemed preposterous. At the same time the expectations were tremendous, the skepticism enormous and the result is truly the most wonderful surprise of the year. Many have already written about this film, that is only pretending to be intelligent, while in reality it's artificial, pointing on the rapidly sinking numbers at the box-office as proof of that. Wrong! Infact the split in the public opinions and reviews is the first sign of originality and a unique vision - the very quality that all Kubrick-films possessed. This a bold film that isn't looking to please the popcorn-audience, expecting light, brainless entertainment. This is not "Jurassic Park 3" and this is not "Fast and Furious". This is a work of art, a clash of Titans, a collaboration between the greatest film directors of our time, a combination of Kubrick's cold, razor-sharp intelligence and Spielberg's warmth, hope and innocence, which makes "A.I." a unique and fascinating tour-de-force that is unlike anything you have seen and will see in the future.
The story is as complex as it is imaginative and original. It begins with a haunting prologue that transports us into a new and unknown world of the future. The poles have melted, leaving many cities under the raging billows of the ocean. The recourses are low and everything is rationed -- including children, because of an increasingly threatening overpopulation. It is in this dark world, where the more "correct" robots are taking over human jobs and where parents are struggling for children-licensees, that professor Allen Hobby (the Gepetto and Dr. Frankenstein in the story) proposes to build a robot-child that will love the many childless couples. Twenty months later Monica (Frances O'Connor) and Henry (Sam Robarts) (whose only son, Martin (Jake Thomas), lies frozen in a coma) receive David - the first "mecha" capable to love and dream. At first Monica is repelled by David (Haley Joel Osmont). Mr. Osment uses his wide blue eyes and ingratiating smile to suggest the uncanny creepiness of a living doll, and the film plays cleverly with the monstrous implications of its conceit. The fantasy that humans' replicas of themselves will come to life is more often than not - in the medieval legend of the golem, in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" - a source of terror and anxiety. Fear is the underside of enchantment, and the spell of wonder "A.I." casts is tinged with dread. This is the beginning of the first act. This spooky mood only deepens when Monica activates David's imprinting function, that will make him love her unconditionally and eternally. His absolute and unwavering adoration is both heart-rending and chilling (the way Osmont utters the word "mommy" is one of the most powerful and controversial moments in the film). But is it true love or is it the program? Is he real or is he not? The eternal questions that Monica is constantly asking herself, unable to solve them. But then, by a strange twist of fate, Martin wakes up and comes home. David is gradually forgotten as the return of the "real" son excites the parents, and though Monika tries to offer equal attention, it's obvious where her true feelings lie. Martin is cruel and provocative, constantly taking advantage of David, who only wants Monika to love him. Things start happening to David as he tries to compete for love, tries to fit in, to be real, to be human, but he can't. Henry becomes worried and even afraid of David, saying that "If David was programmed to love, why not assume that he knows how to hate". David reads "Pinocchio" and thinks that somewhere out there there's a "Blue Fairy" that can transform him into a real boy. Suddenly the mood shifts abruptly - and the picture becomes dreamier, funnier and intellectually riskier - when David is abandoned, along with his cybernetic teddy bear (with the voice of Jack Angel), in a dark forest. The dark, delirious second hour is a neon-lit nightmare odyssey in which the boy and his new friend, Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) - a sex-slave mecha, programmed to pleasure women-must fight for survival in a world full of robot-hating humans. While David represents Spielberg's warmth, love and passion, Gigolo Joe (the Fox in this story) is clearly a character from Kubrick's cold, "motherless" world of decay and dehumanization. And like Spielberg and Kubrick, David and Joe too hold hands and help each other on their risky and unknown quest. Obsessed with the Pinocchio fable, David is convinced that he can be magically transformed into a real boy, and that once he is, he'll regain the love of his lost mother.
The wonderfully complex screenplay, which is Spielberg's first since "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) is an ingeniously crafted web of twists, turns and parallels to children's stories and fairytales with nightmarish, frightening undercurrents. It becomes an odyssey for humanity, a "Wizard of Oz"-quest of finally coming home, a "Pinocchio"-fable of becoming a real boy. The tragedy is of course that we know that David will never find his Blue Fairy, that he will never become a real boy, but he does not.
Mirroring "Pinocchio" in form, "A.I." (like all Kubrick-films) poses grand questions and wrestles with problems of eternity: What does it mean to be human? What makes us human? If a machine thinks like us, looks like us and feels like us, would we care if it's not "real"? Would we accept it? Is it possible to become human? Where can we draw the line between programmed emotions and thoughts and the real ones? Or perhaps in an inhuman world, David is the only true human? At the same time "A.I." displays the incredible responsibility that we have for our creations. This film has enough in it to start a never ending debate, to fill countless volumes. It is also incredibly risky, since Spielberg expects us to invest our emotions into a machine. And in a way the audience is part of a very interesting experiment -- expected to answer the very question that is the core of this picture: If a machine can love, can we love it in return?
There are not many directors alive that can create a "Kubrick-feeling", which is absolutely unique. There are some that can copy it, but no one can actually make it real, make it genuine. Spielberg can. "A.I." bears the mark of true greatness and portraying sides that we didn't imagine Spielberg possessed. With this film he enters a completely new and unfamiliar territory that will probably forever change the way we look at him. Visually and in terms of atmosphere and pace - it's all Kubrick. The cinematography, the dolly-shots, the careful editing, but Spielberg's warmth and humanity shines clearly through this icy surface. In a way "A.I." is an incredible film that combines the very best elements of the two greatest directors of all time. The cool intelligence, darkness of human nature and the hope about a better world. Earth is a dark, unfriendly place, reflecting Kubrick's cynical disbelief in the future. And like all Kubrick-films it's completely unpredictable, filled with reverting story-turns and character surprises. The atmosphere echoes Kubrick - mysterious and spooky, an obsessive tuning that hypnotizes you and though it's difficult to watch at times, you can't move. "A.I." is immensely complex and presents an entire web of moral dilemmas, and there are moments where story doesn't entirely compute at times, but even those moments shine with greatness. At times it's creepy, even frightening, as if come from "The Shining". There are moments of wonder of the unknown that can be found in "2001", a murky, dehumanized world from "A Clockwork Orange" and the warmth and heart that rings of "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Nightmares and dreams, shadows and light, intelligence and heartfelt emotions - "A.I." has it all! It is haunting and surreal, moving and beautiful.
The technical side of it is beyond any praise. It seems that Spielberg's well known crew has pushed the limits in creating a loving memory of Stanley Kubrick - a legacy, if you will, of love. "A.I." features some of the greatest special effects since "Jurassic Park" and a visual perfection that only Kubrick could boast of. Rick Carter's beautiful art direction, somehow reminiscent of "A Clockwork Orange" and "2001", Janusz Kaminski's incredible cinematography, which cleverly adapts Kubrick's visual style with backlighting, bright whites and the curiously evocative visible beams of flashlights, Michael Kahn's dreamy editing, and of course John Williams' beautiful and strangely distant and modernistic score that is more subtle and eerie than anything he has ever done before. Spielberg (following Kubrick) forms the dialogues and the acting to fit and underscore the atmosphere, rather than to propel the story forward, which is something that lets you truly sink into this strange and alien world. It's when all those elements are combined when you get the powerful effect that "A.I." inflicts.
And of course Haley Joel Osmont - an actor in the true sense of the word and an artist of his craft that is already above some Hollywood-veterans. At age 12, he is here expected not only to carry an entire film on his shoulders, but to explore into the darkest, nastiest depths of human condition. He is sensational. His evolution from a machine to a "boy", who we truly can love is so graceful, so elegant and so real, that it would take more than an Oscar-nomination to honor it. Of course he has an impressive supporting cast. Jude Law is wonderful - looking and acting like a "ladies' dream", he sprays enough color and zest into his character to dazzle us, walking on a very thin line between funny and creepy. William Hurt is truly at his place in one of his best roles since "Broadcast News" (1987). Frances O'Connor is also interesting as Monica - David's "mother", who plays in the same vein as most of Kubrick's female characters, which are hysterical, insecure, but good-hearted and loving (Shelley Duvall's Wendy in "The Shining" is the perfect example). Spielberg brings also back his longtime friends like Ben Kingsley, Robin Williams and Meryl Streep as voices behind the screen.
The third act is dark, terrifying and tragic, with no apparent hope for the future, which is probably where Kubrick would have cut his production. But in doing so he would have missed a beautiful and slightly ironic ending that is Spielberg through and through, which truly adds a new dimension to the movie. He would have missed that compassion and the love, and humanity - the heart, which Spielberg always had and which is truly what makes us human. Spielberg is the golden glow at the end of Kubrick's dark, icy, nightmarish tunnel. It's beautiful, provoking, frustrating, exhilarating, magical, dark, mesmerizing, mysterious... I can't wait to see it again!
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