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| A curiosity-sparking, very dark poster for Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence |
In the late 22nd century, a family whose son is in an induced coma start to live with the prototype of a robot boy instead. But when one day their real son can be revived, their family structure experiences upheaval, until they ultimately decide to get rid of the robot boy, who as a result is sent on a far-reaching journey in search of his own maker.
I have watched A.I. on several occasions. One of them was a screening I arranged for a bunch of kids, many of whom did not understand English. That was the time I realized that A.I. is not only a great film but truly a cinema masterpiece. That stuffy, hot room full of tired kids fell almost completely silent within the first 10 minutes and then stayed that way for the rest of the almost 2½ hour film, transfixed by its story. It is related with visual mastery (cinematography by Janusz Kaminski (Schindler's List (1993))) that goes way beyond its words. - Every single one of those kids were totally enthralled in A.I., in the destiny of the robot boy David, the tragic loss of his family that he suffers through and his journey towards being a real boy. It is a Pinocchio-like story, partly sci-fi, partly fairy tale, of amazing strength and universal appeal. It is very melancholic, incredibly beautiful - and an irrepressible emotional rollercoaster. For me, it beats Disney's Pinocchio (1940) by many lengths.
Filled with ethics concerning robots, creation of life and artificial intelligence, Biblical references, a perfect score by John Williams (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)) and led by a formidable performance by Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense (1999)) as David, A.I. engages both minds and hearts from start to finish. It is hard and bold in its portrayal of the facts of life, but never hopeless.
The film was originally a project of Stanley Kubrick's, which he developed for two decades without feeling that the technology had come far enough yet to tell the story. Kubrick handed the project over to Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan (1998)) four years prior to his death, and Kubrick couldn't possibly have made it a better movie than Spielberg has achieved here. A.I., his 19th feature, is one of his absolute best, and a unique cinematic masterpiece.
It is written by Spielberg, with Ian Watson (EarthPulse (2002-03), documentary TV-series) contributing story elements, based on Brian Aldiss' (The Rain Will Stop (2000)) short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long (1969).
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| A collage of some of the images from Steven Spielberg's A.I. |
Cost: 100 mil. $
Box office: 235.9 mil. $
= Minor flop (returned 2.35 times its cost)
[A.I. Artificial Intelligence premiered 26 June and runs 146 minutes. Kubrick reportedly began developing the film in the late 1970s and contacted Spielberg in the mid-1980s about it. Shooting took place from August - November 2000 in Los Angeles, California and in Oregon. The film opened #1 to a 29.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week in the top 5 (#3) and grossed 78.6 mil. $ (33.3 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 11.6 mil. $ (4.9 %) and France with 8 mil. $ (3.4 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Score, lost to Howard Shore for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Best Visual Effects, also lost to the first LOTR movie. A.I. was also nominated for 3 Golden Globes, a BAFTA, a Grammy and scores of other awards, making it onto the National Board of Review's Top 10 list of the year. Roger Ebert awarded it 4/4 stars, in line with the review here, while many other especially American critics teared it most undeservedly to shreds. Spielberg returned with Minority Report (2002). Osment returned in Family Guy (2000-01) and theatrically in Edges of the Lord (2001), Jude Law (Vox Lux (2018)) in Road to Perdition (2002). A.I. Artificial Intelligence is certified fresh at 73 % with a 6.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of A.I. Artificial Intelligence?
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