1 hr & 48 min, color, 2015
Those who care deeply about the
emergence of Artificial Intelligence and its potential for becoming dominant
over Human Intelligence (and ingenuity) should make it a point to see this
sharp futuristic piece of science fiction.
While it does not work through the controversy or come to any specified
conclusion about that mysterious question of possibility, it does pose a plot
predicament that places the thinking and exploring viewer into yet another
conceivable set of bizarre circumstances in which the two, the Artificial and
the Human, come eyeball to eyeball with each other.
We share the bedazzlement of a
twenty-six-year-old Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), programmer for a high
profile digital research company. He is
asked to examine a robot and determine by observation whether or not she has
developed consciousness. Yes, this robot
has gender; she (Alicia Vikander) is called Ava by her creator, and she has
been shaped into the slim body of an attractive young woman who speaks flawless
English. Offhand she reminds me of the
movie “Her”, except in that gripper the artificial being is only a voice, not a
tangible corporeal manifestation. And
she is also reminiscent of the computer brain HAL in “2001: A Space Odyssey”,
who speaks most clearly and eloquently, manifests emotion and makes independent
decisions that complicate human programming.
Caleb interviews and interacts
with Ava, whose seductiveness is not at first apparent to him. It is the kind of one-on-one that requires us
to pay close attention to each and every word and phrase and syllable. There is no room for the attentive mind to
wander, not even for a fleeting moment.
We know that there is more to Ava’s part of the encounter than there
appears to be, more than a mere exchange of names. It does not take Caleb long to verify that
she is indeed a creature of consciousness, not simply an amalgamation of wires
and cylinders and programmed apparatuses, though she does look wired up and
quite conspicuously.
But there is a third character
in the scenario whom I found to be even more of a fascination, and that is
Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the middle-aged genius who has invented her. If the film had followed the expected
protocol of science fiction and made Nathan in the image of the conventional
Frankenstein-ian mad scientist in strident quest for power, he would have been
tiresome from the get-go. But the first
we see of Nathan he is recovering from one of his many alcohol-induced
hangovers, a quite self-involved hedonist, somewhat depressed and depressive to
listen to. He acts as if he is more an
observer in the scenario than an instructor or controller. He appears to be relaxed and matter of fact
about what he has created. He works
alone in his subterranean lab located at a remote mountain spot many hours away
from urban civilization. Caleb is
ordered flown there by helicopter, where the object of his inquiry as well as
Nathan awaits him; there he is scheduled to stay for a week. Nathan has also created another female robot
named Kyoko, who is purportedly incapable of much reasoning and not conversant
in any language. Her only function is to
wait upon Nathan mechanistically.
The place is surrounded by lush
mountain scenery at a quite high altitude, with cliffs and snow-covered rock
and waterfalls. An apparently peaceful
environment! And we encounter only this
foursome. A very small cast in very
restrictive surroundings! I am not sure
how the average viewer will experience the setting as the movie begins, but I
found it to be strangely foreboding, in spite of the unspoiled sanctuary of
nature in which the lab is cradled. Even
Nathan refers to the place as claustrophobic.
Ava does not speak in some abrasive monotone; her voice is soft and
appropriately inflective. And yet we
know that more is in the offing than we can imagine.
We are exposed to the
bewildering corridors of Nathan’s mind and his somewhat amoral assessment of
life on the planet, its tumultuous past and what he sees as its grim
future. But Ava, from whose wiles
Nathan makes no effort to protect Caleb, turns out to be the intended
manipulator of both men. Just how
susceptible each of them will be to her devices is the question that keeps the
drama of the film in high suspenseful traction.
Caleb sees things in the lab
that disturb him and make him somewhat vulnerable before Ava. One would expect that Nathan is closely
observing the young man’s reactions. But
does he have any real agenda in mind or is he just a lonely, hermitic man using
Caleb to satisfy his hunger for human and professional contact?
Sexuality comes to play a very
vital part in the functioning of both women robots. Caleb is amazed and a bit confused over the
fact that Nathan has given them sexuality at all. Nathan’s reason for this, which he readily
and matter-of-factly shares with the younger man, leads to some strong medical
and philosophical argument between the two of them. Is not a robot’s only purpose for existence
that of improved calculation and reasoning and motor functioning? Is it not constructed to serve Science? Or does this creator have something more in
mind? Caleb soon discovers the answer,
to his shock and horror. He also begins
to have a sense of unreality about the environment into which he has
stepped. Is it all a professional
experiment or is there a game being played?
Is he being tested, or is he the butt of some joke? One thing that feeds these fears is Ava’s
attempt to turn him against Nathan, or so it appears.
Where are things headed in this
spooky business (one of last year’s Oscar nominations for Best Original
Screenplay)? This may not be a film for
all tastes; its outcome is quite horrific.
But it is not an exploitative exercise in chills for chills’ sake. It directs our thinking and sense of inquiry
– carefully and ingeniously – toward a most crucial subject, one that the
scientific genius Stephen Hawking, who believes that the AI threat is real, has
written about.
The honored screenplay and the
film’s direction are both the labor of a man named Alex Garland. He has well named it. The title, “Ex Machina”, is a Latin phrase
derived from a Greek term meaning “out of a machine”. Sometimes it is joined to the Latin word for
god, Deus. “Deus ex machina” is the
concept of deity as something technical, created by human ingenuity and
intellect as opposed to a transcendent living force that defies
definition. Can a robot generate
feelings and independent self-consciousness; can it develop spiritual
quality? Or is she, he, or it doomed to
be nothing more than a mechanism, however far advanced? Or – here is the really scary question: Does
she, he, or it have to have these capacities in order to exercise independent
control over human beings? Mr. Garland
attacks these frightening questions excitingly and intelligently and with
superb, state-of-the-art use of cinematic engineering. I hope he has other great things in store for
us.
To read other entries in my
blog, please consult its website:
enspiritus.blogspot.com. To learn about me consult on the website the
blog entry for August 9, 2013.
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