A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Writer: Steven Spielberg, Ian Watson
Director: Steven Spielberg
Editor: Michael Kahn
Director of Photography: Janusz Kaminski
Composer: John Williams
Lead Actor: Haley Joel Osment
Year: 2002

A.I. is a personal film with epic proportions. Look no further than “Steven Spielberg” and we know something special is going to come to life in a big way. That something special in this film is a robot. In the sophistication of a futuristic world there has been created another civilization that requires no resources to sustain itself. Its primary responsibility was to perform tasks which otherwise would need human intelligence to accomplish. But an inevitable question is raised: are we giving the robots too much responsibility? Has it come to a point where humans are having difficulty taking responsibility?

What would be the merit and usefulness of an artificial being that could feel and convey love? That is the question asked by an inventive professor (William Hurt) at the opening of the film. It is this professor’s fascination and industrialism that tempts him to pursue making this dream a reality.

David is the experiment.

David is created to love and his entire purpose hinges on that. If his love is lost, all he can (and wants to) do is try and retrieve it. But David is at a disadvantage because he’s not real and people know that. While it is the professor’s dream to make a realistic robot, it is David’s dream to become a reality in order to ‘find his love,’ so to speak. David overhears the story of Pinocchio and from then on relentlessly pursues the Blue Fairy, hoping that she can make him real. This quest takes him to the end of the world and back again.

What would this world be like if robots loved and we were to love them back? We can let Steven Spielberg take a whack at giving us a visual idea. And he certainly does a pretty compelling job with it. But I do wonder if he concludes without coming back to an interesting question…a question that would have fit very nicely into his framework. The oldest question in the book, so to speak. Is love genuine if flesh and blood doesn’t desire it? A love out of freedom has to be much more meaningful than an obligatory love. Yes, God made mankind to love him, but that doesn’t mean we have to. I do think that it pleases God more when his children com eto Him out of genuine love rather than duty.

Spielberg certainly doesn’t sell himself cheap, and A.I. is in no way an exception. And yet, I don’t see any ego he might have getting in the way. Same goes for the actors. I think you can tell when they’re trying to show off. Here they are simply trying to actually and vividly tell the story. Although I have the same problem with William Hurt as I did in The Village. He is just way to much of a theater actor.

I owned John William’s score for several months prior to watching the film and had come to really appreciate it. It may well me my favorite William’s score in my collection (9 total, and that’s not including any Star Wars or Jones). Intimate might be the best way to describe his music for A.I.. Their really aren’t any epic themes, and not a lot of huge, swelling orchestras, although I think you can still tell it is John Williams behind the music. His sensibilities definitely come through. The main theme of the soundtrack is Monica’s Theme (as heard in “Where Dreams are Born”), which I have yet to tire of. Lovely in both its piano and voice forms.

The power of story and cinema has made me sympathetic for something I should never be sympathetic about. A.I. is a heartfelt journey that almost takes you beyond artificiality without hardly knowing. I thought real life and fake life (Orga and Mecha) were balanced quite flawlessly. The capacity of realism the Mecha existed in suited the story well, even leaving an impression on you. I suppose I was surprised by the amount of care I had for the talking and loving robot. Certainly the film was designed to have that affect.

I still would hope society doesn’t go so far as to manufacture substitute children, we’ve gone quite far enough.