By: debbie lynn elias
“I propose we can build a robot who can love.” “I propose we build a child robot who can love.” And thus, the basis for A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, a 15 year project of Stanley Kubrick, which was handed over to Steven Spielberg after Kubrick’s death. Originally envisioned by Kubrick as a project based on Brian Adliss’ short story “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” – a dark lesson in morality dealing with a robot boy desperate to win his mother’s love – Spielberg wrote the screenplay for A.I., his first since Poltergeist in 1982.
Set in the distant (or not so distant) future, global warming has finally caused the polar ice caps to melt, resulting in flooding of the continents and disappearance of major coastal cities with death striking millions. In an effort to fill the void created by the massive loss of human life, and to keep the world functioning and the economy flowing, robots have been developed to the point that they are capable of performing every (and I do mean every) function of a human, save for one – that of love and the feeling of human emotion. Enter William Hurt in the role of Professor Hobby, scientist and president of a company that manufactures humanoid robots known as “mechas” (short for mechanic), the counter-parts to the human “orgas” (short for organic). It is Hobby’s obsession to create a “child robot who can love.” This, of course, presents the moral dilemma of “What responsibility does a human have to a robot that genuinely loves?.” Although it appears that director Steven Spielberg attempts to give us an answer, he instead only poses more unanswered questions as the film progresses.
Nevertheless, Hobby and his team create “David,” rationalizing their creation with the noble philosophy that they are fulfilling the needs of childless couples by providing them with a loving child all their own. “David is 11 years old. He weighs 60 pounds. He is 4 feet, 6 inches tall. He has brown hair. His love is real. But he is not.”
Monica and Henry Swinton (Frances O’Connor and Sam Robards), whose own child is in cryogenic stasis pending a cure for a terminal disease, are selected as a test case for placement of the child robot played by Haley Joel Osment, undisputably the best child actor in history, and with this role, an Oscar contender, if not winner, come March. Brought home as a surprise for Monica, she initially rejects David, unrealistically sobbing, “There’s no substitute for your own child.” And as with any new toy a husband brings home that upsets the wife, Henry graciously offers to “take him back” However, as Monica soon learns, David has a computer chip that, upon “imprintation” by the recitation of seven words, enables him to learn and love. As Monica’s heart melts, she does indeed imprint David, who does an emotional and physical metamorphosis from stiff robotic movements and mannerisms to cute and adorable little boy in a matter of seconds, culminating in a warm and fuzzy “I love you mommy.” Think Data from Star Trek with the implantation of his emotion chip and his quest to become human and you’ll get the picture here.
Spielberg brings us reality with a touch of comedy in these early depictions of child-rearing giving ample time to viewpoints from both the innocent child and the at times exasperated parents. Although unable to eat real food or sleep, David nevertheless goes through the mechanics of how he believes, or is programmed to believe, little boys behave, endearing himself to not only Monica and Henry, but the audience as well, as he goes through the trials and tribulations of boyhood – complete with his constant companion and forever friend, a robotic, talking and thinking teddy bear named (what else), Teddy. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and the humanity of the film begins to fall apart here with the miraculous cure of the Swintons’ real son, Martin, and his return home. Martin, an obnoxious brat, does all he can to torment David and make him out to be the “bad brother,” bringing Monica to the realization that David is only a robot and that she can only love one child – the real one.
On Monica’s abandonment of David in the woods of New Jersey, the film turns from Spielbergesque to Kubrickesque as David and Teddy wander the woods in a search of the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, for as David learned in his bedtime stories, the Blue Fairy has the power to turn a puppet, or a robot, into a real boy who will finally be loved and accepted by the parent he so desperately loves. Along the way, he and Teddy meet up with lover mecha, pretty-boy, Gigolo Joe played by Jude Law, who is running from the human police as the result of being framed for murder. Law gives an eerie, yet touching performance, as the robot-for-hire-hustler, who, although incapable of love as David is, nevertheless shows caring and compassion for not only David, but his female clientele as well. His dialogue is witty and his delivery sharp and snappy which is nicely paralleled by sharp precise physicality.
In a sequence reminiscent of that floating disaster “Waterworld” or the WWF, David and Joe, along with other mechas, are taken to the Flesh Fair, an event where humans cheer as mechas are grotesquely destroyed through various means. Due to David’s humanness, he, Joe and Teddy manage to elude destruction and make their way to Rouge City. After all, where else would one look for the Blue Fairy except in a futuristic red light district. A departure from anything seen previously on screen by Spielberg, Rouge City looks like the Emerald City meets Las Vegas meets Moulin Rouge and reeks of Kubrick. Surreal and visually spectacular. While in Rouge City, David consults Dr. Know, voiced by Robin Williams, as to where he can find the Blue Fairy. Dr. Know, as he knows all, sends David to the end of the world to the place “where the lions weep”, aka Manhattan, to find what he seeks.
Escaping Rouge City in an amphibious helicopter, David, Joe and, of course, Teddy, make their way to Manhattan, which is now, for the most part, underwater. Nearing the end of his quest, which will take us another 2000 years into the future, visually breathtaking cinematography by Janusz Kaminski, makes us see and feel the true depth of David’s aloneness and of his humanity.
A.I. is a visual and technical masterpiece, rich in imagination. It is a thinking person’s movie. Although it falls short of answering the questions raised by the basic premise of the film, it nevertheless makes you take pause in showing the irony of robots who are actually more human, and definitely more humane, than the humans themselves.
