Her, Final Movie Review by Kevin Masters & Chris Hofmann

Her Poster

Her Movie Review

Her (2013)

R| 2h 6min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi | 10 January 2014 (USA)

Director: Spike Jonze

Screenwriter: Spike Jonze

Lead actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson

Trailer: Trailer #2 (2:32) |Her (2013)

Source: "Her (2013) – IMDb”

In the not too distant futuristic Los Angeles: Theodore Twombly, the main character in “Her” has been divorced by his wife. Since the split, he has been very down and has not been going out with friends or started dating again. One day a software developer comes out with a new interactive operating system which personalizes itself to each user. Theodore purchases one of these OS. Quickly after booting up the software Theodore becomes very comfortable with the new operating system, who calls herself Samantha. He talks to her on his phone and computer as though she were a physical human being. With each day, Theo becomes more and more comfortable talking to Samantha and finds himself falling in love with her.  Theo starts to “become himself” again as their relationship blooms.  The relationship makes Theo make many realizations about himself and re-open his mind in a new way to the ideas of love. In the end we see as Theo connects with Amy and they walk up to the roof. The Operating Systems have left them, but they did not leave them alone. They have built interpersonal skills through their relationships with the OS and have turned to each other with new eyes to develop a relationship with one another.

Sound and lighting both played important roles throughout the film. They both helped set the mood and attitude of different scenes. There were very bright scenes and in contrast some very dark scenes throughout the film. The contrast of lighting gave meaning to parts of the film that would otherwise seem neutral and be difficult to interpret. The darker moments in the movie represented sadness and loneliness, as one character could be seen alone in their feelings for example. Secondly, the brighter moments in the film were used to show the happiness and good spirit that was present in the characters’ moods and thoughts. The music played in the movie was the same as what the character(s) heard. We found this really allowed us to immerse ourselves into the shoes of the main character, and the situation he/ she was currently in. The musical photograph that Samantha makes is a perfect example of this. The music heard in the film was diegetic, however it was enhanced and could be called non-diegetic to some, to increase the importance of the sounds and the music heard by the characters. The music that both the characters and the audience heard really allowed for a much deeper connection into what they (Theodore/Samantha) were both feeling at the time.

Theodore on a boat with Samantha

            The plot was very well constructed. Main themes, like love and relationships, carried their way throughout the film. The ending leaves us with a slight feeling of suspense and is open to interpretation.   Why did Amy and Thea go to the roof, after Theo left a message apology to Catherine? Was he going to kill himself or was he moving on with Amy? … 

The film played out in a variety of different locations but seemed to focus in on a few more than others. The main locations that the film took place is Theodore’s workplace, where he wrote beautiful hand written letters; his home and the city. Each location displays different emotions and connections that Samantha and Theodore share. His home displays some of the good and bad moments of their relationship. The ups and the downs. The lighting in his home was warm but dark. There were moments where reality strived (hence the warm colours) and other moments where a different reality set in. This reality was that Samantha did not have a true human physical form and that was hidden away by the darkness, which did not show any artificial light or natural warm light. It was a blurred line as Theo himself started to believe and “feel” a physical form of Samantha. The city shows the fun “adventures” they share with one another. Where Theodore starts to bond and feel alive again.

The main characters were portrayed and developed well. Theodore was sad, mad, confused, and somewhat depressed in the beginning but he underwent a huge development, changing and growing as the film progressed. He grew in personal ways, his view on relationships, on love, on his work. His life was changed and heavily impacted by the presence of Samantha. Samantha was made out to be a computer program, an OS. A sort of artificial intelligence that grows and adapts to its surrounding environment. Samantha began by giving herself her name. She adapted to a life with Theo, who is a Human with a physical body, a job, a life... She started to feel like she was equal; like she too had a physical body and a life of her own. She started to develop feelings that she thought she never could and was constantly amazed by herself and her development. Theo saw it too as he connected with her. He fell in love with Samantha, she became more that the OS she was made out to be.

Her, a Spike Jonze love story

 Joaquin Pheonix is an actor that we personally haven’t seen in another movie. For this reason, We felt it was easy to understand the development as a character. 

Scarlet Johansson, in this film, existed only in the voice of Samantha, the OS. This allows us to listen carefully to the voice and the voice acting that Scarlet is capable of. She was an amazing voice and it is no wonder why she was used in the making of the film. The development and ability she has to speak as the robotic OS that Samantha started out as and to develop into the very real Samantha as the film progressed. There was so much emotion in her voice, during times of love, admiration, surprise, anger, etc.  Scarlet Johansson was an incredible actress to be chosen as the voice of Samantha.

This film talks about many different themes, but there is one that stands out from all others, loneliness. The sense of wanting company. Theodore wants someone to share the world with, he doesn’t want to be alone. The struggle and difficulties of having relationships is seen again and again. He finally gets this with Samantha, but then he is faced with the question: “Is this relationship even real?”. The film also makes us think of the increasing role that technology plays in our daily lives and in certain cases we even beg the question: is it connecting us, or is it disconnecting us even more?

Many different techniques were incorporated throughout the course of the film. Many allowing you to understand what or why something is what it is. For example, flashbacks were used to show what Theodore used to be like. He was happy and had someone to share his life with. His divorce drives him to sadness, even depression. This lets us better understand that all Theodore wants is not to be alone. 

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Her was a completely new experience for us. We never saw a movie quite like this one before. It always made us think, ask ourselves different questions, and imagine what our lives might be like in a similar situation. Can AI’s replace human love? was just one of the many questions the film threw our way. The way in which the story progressed was fluid and simple to follow. The themes present in the film were important and related directly with what we discuss every day in our class about the self. The movie is perfect for our day because with advancement in technology it is very possible that these interactive OS may be available in our lifetime. The possibilities of our lives connecting so much with the film and the ideas brought up make the film so much more interesting and enjoyable in our present day. 

                                                                                                                      Course Connections:

           1)      The self. Samantha, the OS that Theo uses and ends up in a relationship with, was programmed to converse with a human and have proper interactions while controlling or essentially being controlled by a computer. She has given herself a name and communicates with Theo in such a way that made it possible for them to have a loving and sexual relationship. She had the ability to read his feelings, respond to her own, have questions about emotions and know how to deal with others’ emotions. Many could then claim that she has a self-aware self, “This self can represent itself. It is the subject of experience but can also be the object of its experience. It can reflect. It can introspect. It knows it exists. It is an “I” with symbols of an “I”. It can represent its own consciousness.”. (Class Notes). All in all, this would classify her as a self from what we have discussed and learned in class.

"The past is just a story we tell ourselves" -Samatha

         2)      This leads to another topic we covered in class. Personhood. “define as the status of being a person. A legal or social category that will vary across cultures and across history. ‘Not all humans are persons and not all persons are humans.’” (Class Notes). The question of personhood is addressed in respect to Samantha. Theodore must decide if Samantha has personhood, even if she is just a voice in a computer. One could say she is her own person, as this is referenced and talked about numerous times throughout the film. The first time, for example, is when Samantha is first installed, she chose the name, Samantha. When Theodore asks why, she responds, “because I liked it”. Samantha uses the term “I” to describe herself, leading one to believe that there is more to her than just code. This is seen again when she is trying to convince Theodore to go on a date with a girl. Theodore says, “why am I having this conversation with my computer”, where Samantha responds, “you’re not having it with your computer, you're having it with me”. Again, she refers to herself as a person, disassociating herself from the computer. Further on in the movie, the idea of personhood is again put into question when Theodore is having an argument with Catharine. She claims that the emotions are not real, where Theodore responds, “they are real emotions. She’s not a computer, she’s her own person”. At this point, Theodore believes she is her own person, indicating that Samantha does indeed possess personhood. He then doubts himself and his relationship when he realizes that Samantha is acting like a person when all she is a voice in a computer. He even points out the small “gasps of air” she takes. “Why do you do that? People need oxygen, you don’t need oxygen, you are not a person. We shouldn’t pretend your something you’re not. Maybe we shouldn’t be in this right now.” Theodore is between two different ideas. That Samantha is not human, but that she does have personhood. This is asked by his friend right after Theodore had this big argument with Samantha. “Is it not a real relationship?”, making Theodore decide whether or not he can accept Samantha for who she is. 

Theodore with Samatha in the city

         3)      The ideology of the “uncanny valley”, “Mori's original hypothesis states that as the appearance of a robot is made more human, a human observer's emotional response to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes that of strong revulsion. However, as the robot's appearance continues to become less distinguishable from that of a human being, the emotional response becomes positive once more and approaches human-to-human empathy levels.This area of repulsive response aroused by a robot with appearance and motion between a "barely human" and "fully human" entity is called the uncanny valley. The name captures the idea that an almost human-looking robot will seem overly "strange" to a human being, will produce a feeling of uncanniness, and will thus fail to evoke the empathic response required for productive human-robot interaction.” (Class Notes). Samantha talks and acts exactly like a real person, but is just a voice. She even gasps for air when she talks, when Theodore and the audience both know she doesn’t need to. This clearly makes Theodore uncomfortable, as he brings it up and questions her about it in the movie. Another moment which has an uncanny effect on Theodore, as well as the viewers, is the scene with the OS surrogate. The OS surrogate is hired by Samantha in an attempt to give her voice a body. Theodore's facial expressions clearly display discomfort, especially when the interaction between him and the surrogate become sexual while Samantha speaks to him through his ear. It reaches the point where he can no longer continue, and the evening is cut short.

Theodore receiving a call from Samantha

 Questions for fellow Bloggers:

1. On what level do interactions with AI help us to develop and discover new things about ourselves?

2. Is it truly possible for a computer, OS, AI… to have a mind indifferent than the human mind? Is there anything that they do not have that is essential to human life?

3. If a social robot could love you back, could you imagine loving them? 

Amy and Theodore sitting together on the roof 

More information:

1.  https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/movie-analysis-her-5651e6e0c0be#.414a3s2mw Her is analyzed and discussions here arise on the OS and whether they have a self. Theodore Twombly evolves enormously in the film, as mentioned in this blog post.

2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2628150/Robots-NEVER-feelings-Mathematics-reveals-droids-experience-emotions-like-us.html According to this article, mathematics proves that robots are unable to have real emotions. They can carry out actions which we relate strongly with emotions, however they do not have to capacity to have feelings.

Dead Ringers

Dead Ringers movie poster

Dead Ringers 
Released: 1988
Director: David Cronenberg
Screen Writers: David Cronenberg, Norman Snider
Lead Actors: Jeremy Irons, Genevieve Bujold, Heidi Von Palleske
Running Time: 116 min
Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xmheE3L19c
Source: Dead Ringers (1988) - IMDb

Film Review

Set in Toronto in the 1980s, the film captures the life of two gynecologist identical twins, bound together by their sense of a shared self. As young boys, the Mantle brothers thought, dressed, and acted alike; they even shared the same disturbed obsession with the female reproductive system. They grew up sharing lovers, their research, their clinic, and their apartment together to the extent that their identities were fused and they were "perceived as one person".  Bev and Ellie flawlessly pull off their shared persona until famous actress, Claire Niveau arrives at their fertility clinic for a diagnosis. Beverly begins to fall in love with her, so much so that he wants to keep the experience from Elliot. This creates a new  unique "self" that separates Bev from Ellie, which ultimately results in the death of their shared identity and physical bodies.

Representative of the films sinister themes, the lighting was dull and dreary. Neutral colours, like greys, whites, and soft undertones of blue were predominant in the film. This made a contrast of bright versus dull colours very noticeable whenever the set featured a vibrant colour. The dull neutral colours were representative of the sameness between Bev and Ellie, and how interchangeable the two characters were. The lighting was bright in moments where Bev was confronted by the unique self he was developing with Claire. For example, when Bev was with Claire in her apartment, the lighting was brighter and the colours of the set more distinct. One color that was used dramatically in the film was red. When they’re in the operating room, the uniform was red, when they were at the award gala, everyone was wearing neutral colours, except for a couple of ladies wearing red dresses. This colour is known to be associated with strength, power, determination as well as love, passion, desire and evokes erotic feelings (Color Wheel Pro - Red).

Similar to lighting, the sounds in the film were for the most part, basic and the music was eerie. Non-diegetic music played in moments where the twins' sameness was breached. For the most part, it was used to create a dramatic effect and draw greater attention to the scene. Diegetic sounds from character dialogue to dishes clinking in a restaurant represented what was shown on screen realistically, but was not really used for dramatic effect.

Beverly Mantle, Claire Niveau, Elliot Mantle.

The plot had some troubling aspects and holes to it. The film suggested that twins who experience exactly the same will be exactly the same psychologically. This is questionable as Elliot seems to be subtly more superior to Beverly. He is more composed and confident. So perhaps Beverly's uniqueness wasn't just brought about by Claire. Also troubling about the film was the fact that the characters in the movie, who are closest to the twins, can't tell them apart. Realistically speaking, this is highly unbelievable. 

The sets were not anything extravagant. Again colours were for the most part neutral, in the twins apartment, the clinic, and anywhere else such as the art gallery or the streets. The one exception seemed to be Claire's apartment where an array of colours were evident and props were more elegant. One of the more notable scenes was when Bev first performed surgery with his new radical tools. Everyone in the room was wearing the same red gowns which created a cult-like feel or that they were some kind of priests in an operating theatre of perversion. This represented the Mantle brothers' over the top psychic disintegration and their delusions of power in their abilities to cure female bodies of infertility.

At first glance, Beverly and Elliot are both physically and psychologically the same. Subtle differences later become noticeable at a closer look. Elliot is more confident and acts as the leader, while Beverly is more submissive to Elliot as well as self-conscious. They both have dry and serious personalities, seemingly unfeeling. However, Bev begins to show emotion when he gets involved with Claire. Her character represents the individuality that Bev begins to develop. While most women are shared by the brothers, she is only interested in Beverly and therefore Elliot doesn't have the same experience with her that Bev does, creating a divide. On the other hand, Cary's character represents the sameness between the twins. The experiences she offers are shared by both Bev and Ellie, supporting their sense of shared self.

The actors were well cast. Irons' capability to play two seemingly identical personalities, yet still portray their differences without flaw was incredible and made the film that much more convincing. Bujold and Von Palleske were also convincing in their roles to bring out the two "selves" that Beverly struggled with.

The film played off of the contrast between individuality and sameness. It also brought up the question of the self; can identical twins who are exposed to the same experiences be so symbiotically connected that it seems as if they share one self? It also portrays the serious subjects of female objectification and the "god-like" power of doctors in today's society.

The film's use of foreshadowing provided insight to the viewer that proved to be useful in understanding the plot as well as the complicated Mantle brother relationship. Their name itself revealed the responsibility passed from one person to another: the women as well as their devotion to each other (same self). It can also mean cloak, a metaphor for how they hide behind their identity as twins. The final scene was also hinted at when the brothers spoke about the original Siamese twins who died from separation. Beverly's uniqueness ultimately separated the brothers which caused the death of their shared self and then the death of their physical bodies.

In the first flashback, we can already see the different personalities between Bev and Elliot. We see that they’re interested in sex at already such a young age that usually don’t even know what sex is. You can tell that Elliot is the one who opens up the conversation and tells Bev about it. Also, when they see the little girl, Elliot is the one to ask her to have sex (as an experiment in a bath tub) with them. This initiating personality continued on into adulthood and Elliot claims that Bev would stills be a virgin if it wasn’t for him. At a young age, they were very weird, and different from the other children. They really only had each other and their perverted opinions of the female reproductive organs. 
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Course Connected Content

Dead Ringers successfully captures on film, many important subjects that highly influence today's society, as studied also in the course Knowing the Inner Self. 

Objectification proves to be a main running theme throughout the entire movie. The women, either patients or romantic partners, are constantly regarded to in such degrading manners. The brother's often define the woman's worth by her physical insides and thus her reproductive capabilities; as though we were still living in the stone age. On top of this, they see women as an outlet for sexual experimentation. This is seen at a young age when Ellie asked a neighboring girl to have sex with them- as an experiment- and then later when the older brother's shared women sexually, so to bring them closer.
 Following objectification, instrumentality also plays a leading role. According to our definition, it means to treat a person as a tool for the objectifier’s purposes. Towards the end of the film, when Bev is severely intoxicated on drugs, he uses his new radical tools he had made

Beverly about to preform radical surgery on a patient.

on a woman. He ended up mutilating her  just so he could try out his instruments. In this instance Beverly, the objectifier, treats his patient as an ever willing experimentation and "blank slate"  that he could play Operation on. 
The most important question in this film is that of the theory of "self". The movie suggests that the Mantle boys, who are identical biologically, and who have been exposed to the same experiences, must then share the same self. As defined in class, the self is a collaboration between the soul and consciousness, which are nurtured by both biological and experiential factors. Elliot's explanation to Bev that "[he hasn't] experienced something until [he has] too", serves as proof that the boys have the same self. They really act as one being, they share everything with each other because differences would pull them apart. 

Strengths & Weaknesses

Although the film was centered around disturbing themes of radical experimentation and objectification of women's genitals, it was overall extremely intriguing and insightful. Cronenberg's capability to capture both personalities through the work of one actor was inspiring. Dead Ringers is very strong in setting a mood via props, lighting, etc. to fit with its numerous disturbing themes. However, it proved to show weakness in the overall believably that it projected. The holes in the plot were troubling at times along with the gruesome images and references. 

All factors considered, this film deserves a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

Additional Information

Manly, David. "Mirror Images: Twins and Identity." Scientific American Blog Network. N.p., 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2016. 

The above is a piece portraying the opinions (opposite from that of the film) on twins and unique vs. unified identities. It is extremely insightful and can help broaden ones understanding of the topics discussed in the film.

Shaw, Dan. "Dan Shaw: PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERMINISM IN DEAD RINGERS." Dan Shaw: PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERMINISM IN DEAD RINGERS. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016. 

The above article provides additional insightful information about the psychology of various character's in Dead Ringers.

Questions

Is it truly reasonable for people closest to identical twins, such as family, friends, lovers, or colleagues, to not be able to tell the difference between them due to their seemingly - but not flawless- unified self?

When one twin flawlessly assumes and portrays the others identity, is it more likely that they are able to do so by reading the others mind - so to speak - or are they simply acting on their own preferences which just so happens to match one another due to their shared self?

In the movie, Elliot takes drugs in order to better understand Beverly's addiction. This way he believed that by first experiencing it for himself, he could then help Bev to overcome it. Do you believe that "living" something the only honest way to actually understand it and therefore offer insight and guidance? 

Work Cited

Dead Ringer. Dir. David Cronenberg. N.p., n.d. 1988. Film. 

"Dead Ringers (1988)." Imbd.com. Web. Oct. 23 2016.

"Color Meading: Red." The Color Wheel Pro. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

Jenna Hammond & Sandy Axa

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)

The movie A.I.: Artificial Intelligence is a 2001 American science-fiction drama directed by Steven Spielberg with a total running time of two hours and twenty-six minutes. The screenwriter, Ian Watson took the idea of the story from the British author Brian Aldiss' 1968 short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long". The lead actors of A.I. are Haley Joel Osment (as David), Frances O'Connor (as Monica Swinton), Sam Robards (as Henry Swinton), Jake Thomas (as Martin Swinton) and Jude Law (as Gigolo Joe). 

 

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence Movie Cover
Ebert, Roger. "A.I. Artificial Intelligence Movie Review (2001) | Roger Ebert." All Content. N.p., 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqS83f-NUww

Summary

            A.I.: Artificial Intelligence is set in the near future where advanced technology creates artificial intelligence. Humans can now have robots, also called mechas, to serve them. Scientists now search for more out of their creations; for the robots to love their owners not only physically but also emotionally. The company Cybertronics creates David, the first child robot capable to love unconditionally. This movie is about a couple, Monica and Henry Swinton who have an extremely ill son who is predicted to die. Henry brings up the idea of adopting a robot child named David. Monica warms up to the idea of having a robotic son and "adopts" or programs him into feeling love towards her. The Swinton family is doing very well with the new addition, until Martin comes home from the hospital; now David and Martin don't get along and it leads to plenty of incidents... . After all this trouble, Henry has had enough of David putting the rest of the family's lives in danger and demands that Monica bring him to get destroyed. Unfortunately, she can't bring herself to do that, so she drops him off in the middle of the forest. David finds himself in a Flesh Fair, where they destroy robots, and he meets a robot friend named Gigolo Joe that will help him find the blue fairy and become a real boy to please the Swinton family. An unfortunate situation happens in the city of Manhattan, where David was supposed to become a real boy and he remains at the bottom of the sea starring at a statue of the blue fairy for 2000 years, until artificial intelligence find him and give him a chance to see Monica again.

Film Review

            In A.I., throughout the movie, there is non-diegetic sound. The soundtrack consists of very calm classical or airy music creating a sentiment of sorrow and emptiness. Scenes such as, when David uses the last of Monica’s perfume, become emotion filled because not only is the character sad but the music triggers the sentiment on itself. To add, in the movie the characters did not talk that much. For the most part, the lighting comes from the windows, which creates a very natural lighting.  For instance, when David is first seen after the elevator doors open at the Swinton’s house, the bright background of the shot makes David only a shadow, which physically alienates him. For the most part, the movie was filmed with low-key lighting, but when showcasing his happiness and loving relationship with his mother, the lighting would shift to high key.

 

Monica programming David to love her
https://www.pinterest.com/

            The plot of the movie is filled with various holes, such as, what exactly pushed humans to create Mechas. We also go very quickly over the part of how life is at home before and after the arrival of Martin. We don't really get to see what it's like to have a robot son that much. It is also never really showed what was happening to Martin for him to be suddenly cured from his so called incurable disease. The shift between David being with the Swinton's and him being in the Flesh Fair is a little choppy. Furthermore, once Monica left David in the woods we never see what happened to them after or any information on the life they lived.

Rouge City
Fish, Allan. "A.I. Artificial Intelligence (no 65)." Wonders in the Dark.
WordPress, 16 May 2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

            The movie is set in the Swinton's house, until David is released into the forest. The different locations in the movie were pretty diverse and futuristic. Especially towards the middle of the movie after Monica releases David into the forest. David and Gigolo Joe end up in after the Flesh Fair and Rouge City, where everything is technological and colorful, and everything is much more futuristic and fictional. Towards that point, the locations are very different than the Swinton household and there is a lot more movement between these locations.

            The development and depth of the characters in the movie is quite remarquable. Most characters are rightly depicted within their first scene in the movie. When we first see Monica and Henry they are both at the hospital by their son Martin’s comatose body. Within seconds, Monica is portrayed as more emotionally unstable than Henry, which carries out throughout the movie. Monica is seen as the more accepting one and Henry as closed-minded yet when they first met David it was the opposite. Martin is mean and hateful to David in every scene, which they share. Joe, the love mecha, represents a lower type of artificial intelligence compared to David which keeps the viewers interested in the technological advances they have made by comparing their reasoning and state of mind in shared scenes.

David and Gigolo Joe walking in Rouge City
"Steven Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial Intelligence - A Revisit." Aint It Cool News. N.p., 17 July 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.  

            The actors in A.I. were very well chosen. The actress playing Monica portrayed her character as very emotional, which she did perfectly. In moments where she was alone with David at the beginning of the movie, you could truly see the terror she had from how real he was; yet she is still a robot. Sam Robards, playing Henry in A.I., was very protective of his wife. In the scene where David wants to cut a lock of hair from his mother, Henry takes it very seriously and comes to question what his robot son could be capable of doing. Haley Osment, playing the mecha child, David, made a great representation of what a childlike robot could be; by times scary but inoffensive as well. Jude Law, playing Gigolo Joe also did a great job at portraying that artificial vibe, making viewers feel uncomfortable at times, but still making us appreciate him as a character.

Monica letting David go in the forest
"Steven Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial Intelligence - A Revisit." Aint It Cool News. N.p., 17 July 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

            This movie brings up a lot of issues with morals, is it right or wrong the way Monica treated David? It also brings up the theme of love and needing to feel love in your life. Needing to feel wanted and needing someone there, whether it be David or Gigolo Joe, if someone can be there for you and feel what you feel towards you, it could solve the problem we see in humanity. It brings up a question in the future, between what is real and what is fake. With the new technology that will grow and grow in the future it makes us wonder if what we know is actually real or not. Creating a robot that can have emotions and love is most likely possible but then again, can we make humans love them back. The main theme of the movie is breaking the limit to which a robot can be real, which is very well represented by Henry Swinton.

David looking at Monica through a glass door

Hassenger, Jesse. "Contrary to Popular Opinion, Spielberg Found the Perfect 

Ending for <i>A.I.</i>." The A.V. Club. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

            There were not that many techniques used in A.I.  in terms of foreshadowing and flashbacks but definitely some interesting shots. At the beginning of the movie, when Monica is still unfamiliar with David, he seems to appear everywhere she is. The shots are made to put emphasis on his weirdness compared to humans; when Monica does her bed and lifts her sheets up, when they come back down, David is starring right at her smiling. This shot not only scares the character but the viewer as well. There were many different camera angles in this movie. The most noticeable one was just your regular front view, but there was a lot of zooming in or out on important things, to create emphasis on certain things in the background. There were also a lot of shots from the back, where we see what the character is doing, kind of as if the viewer is doing it with them, which makes us feel more connected to the story and the character in question.

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Strengths & Weaknesses

            Overall, we think this is a good movie; the story line was interesting and really made us feel the weirdness of having that robot look so human. There are a couple things that we did not like as much, such as the ending. The ending was dragged out and didn't add much to the story and just made the movie last too long. The ending is actually very thought out; David is found 2,000 years later in history when all humans have died and he is the closest thing to humanity, but it is dragged for such as long time that the viewer can already conceive what will happen. It was very intriguing and so weird that you always wanted to know what was going to happen next. When Martin came back home with his parents it added an interesting twist to the story making it become very dark and sad. As a science-fiction movie, Spielberg did a great job at choosing actors that really made us feel the emotions that he wanted to portray. To conclude, the screenwriter did a very good job at making the movie mysterious and intriguing and Spielberg sense of direction for this movie was impeccable and very realistic in the fictional setting.   

Connections to Course Content

            In many cases we would identify robots as not being sentient. In this case, David was extremely sentient. He felt pain when Monica left him in the forest, and experienced pleasure when he got to spend that one last day with her. His sentience is extremely present in many cases. He also lives through massive experiences that allow him to feel a certain way. For a robot, he very much has many human traits. In the scene where it is Martin’s birthday party, a friend of his clears out the differences between David and other human kids by calling him mecha. By calling David mechanical, he means that David is not like a real human, he is only a program, but David is shown to understand the concept of pain and emotions.

            Is David really a boy or is he just a robot? It is hard to answer this because he believes so strongly that he is a boy, he assigns himself personhood, but we don't really agree with this. Throughout the whole movie, they try to show how we can treat robots as humans, but they also try to show that it is hard to treat them as normal people, because we know they aren't. Robots are also not born, they are created, but can that be enough to grant them personhood legally? David can do anything a normal boy can do, like think, do chores, etc... But he can't do the basics in life, like sleep or eat, so there lays the issue of giving robots personhood.

            The movie goes over the idea of uncanny valley. Even though, David is advanced and can feel emotions, at the beginning of the movie this idea is represented with Monica. David is weird and not human like in the way he interacts with her; he watches her and stares. David is seen with a constant smile on his face, which is not natural and seems automated. David's persona makes us feel like he's human, but we know he isn't and we know there is something a little off about him that just makes us uncomfortable. The uncanny valley is explored in this movie to make us question how we would feel having a robot son; do we treat it as a robot? Or as a normal boy? It arises a lot of questions that make us confused because of that awkward limbo between the real and the artificial.

David and Gigolo Joe

"AI Artificial Intelligence." Time Out London. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

Questions

1. How would you feel if you had a robot son? Would you treat him as a normal boy?

2. Have you ever interacted with one of these highly technological robots?

3. Love and loneliness is a big theme in this movie, do you think David can actually feel these feelings, or do you think they are simply programmed into him?

4. Do you think interacting with Artificial Intelligence is beneficial to us?

5. Do you believe that Artificial Intelligence will one day live as equals to humans in our world?

Additional Links

            These links focus on the presence of artificial intelligence gaining more and more popularity in our world today and how this may affect humans in multiple aspects of their lives.

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/why-we-should-think-about-the-threat-of-artificial-intelligence

https://thedissolve.com/features/adventures-in-licensing/470-a-disturbing-toy-captures-ais-unnerving-fatalism/

http://www.livescience.com/54425-artificial-intelligence-achievements-and-missteps.html

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/heres-scientists-think-worried-artificial-intelligence/

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html

Work Cited

"A.I. Intelligence Artificielle." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Warner Bros, Pictures, 2001. Movie.

Golden, John. Introducing Cinematic and Theatrical Elements in Film. N.p.: TeachWithMovies.com, n.d.