In "2001: A Space Odyssey" man conquers himself and his machines, transcending the physical and becoming God. God is dead, Nietzsche says, and we shall take his place.
"2001" ended in a bedroom. In that film, God-like beings created a simulated cage for us to shed our old bodies and become something greater than ourselves. Kubrick's second scifi epic likewise ends in a bedroom. In this film, God-like begins create a simulated cage for us to cling to our comfortable delusions.
"AI" is a fairy tale told by Mechas to Mechas. It is an allegory in which the humans are the divine beings and the robots are the humans. While "2001" dealt with the death of God, "AI" deals with the destruction of heaven, that place of happiness and illusion (ie a programmed simulation). To paraphrase Professor Hobby, "man's fundamental flaw is his insistence on hoping for things that don't exist."
With "AI", we have two stories, a science fiction story, and a fairytale story. While "Full Metal Jacket" dealt in twos, and "Eyes Wide Shut" with reflections, "AI's" narrative is staggered. That is, the scifi story begins and ends one act before the fairytale story.
"2001" incorporated much mythic symbolism, using Homer's Odyssey and Nietzsche's Zarathustra as a backbone. With "AI", Kubrick draws from the Adam and Eve myth, and Dante's Inferno.
The film begins with God creating man. When David meets Professor Hobby (God), Hobby says: "My son was one of a kind. You are the first of a kind." The line is a nod to Biblical lore, where God's "only begotten son" was "one of a kind" and his first creation, was "the first of a kind". Thus David is symbolic of both Jesus and Adam. First God and first man.
The first act of the film takes place in the Garden of Eden, with Monica becoming symbolic of Paradise and eternal happiness. David is ejected from heaven because he disobeys God's programming and eats the forbidden fruit (spinach). When David is cast out of Eden, he finds himself first in the Dark Wood and then in Rouge City (earthly sin). After sinning, he is cast into the Flesh Fair, which represents hell and eternal punishment. After his punishment he is cast into the Atlantic Ocean, where, after 2000 years of being "washed" and cleansed of sin (Dante's Purgatory), he is set free and permitted to enter heaven (eternal life with Monica). Unfortunately, this promise of paradise is an illusion. He learns from the SuperMecha that he can only have Monica for one day. His first lines to her ("Would you like some coffee?") highlights his fears that she will die and go to sleep forever. He wants her to stay awake. He wants her to be real.
The death of God is symbolised when humanity dies and the earth becomes frozen over. The reign of man has ended. With it, goes his beliefs, morals and customs. SuperMecha, themselves nothing more than evolved humans, are now the rulers of the land. After the singularity, they are the next stage in intelligent evolution. In a sense, they are the Star Children of "2001".
Significantly, while the Mecha reject God (see how Joe humours David's irrational beliefs during the Dr Know scenes), David continues in his "programmed irrationality". In the scifi story, this leads to David's wish (the blue fairy) dissolving before his eyes. In the fairytale story, David's wish (Mommy) also perishes, but he chooses to remain deluded. He chooses to become human and enter that place where (false) dreams are made.
Thus, to be human, David - whom Kubrick likens to the "artificial intelligence" of Spielberg/modern cinema - has to regress to an infantile state. He has to shut his eyes to believe in his simulational (ie cinema projection) paradise and the storybook fables his Mommy once read to him. David is a machine in a SuperMecha (ie Kubrickean) simulation, cradling his simulated mother in his metal arms. It's an entire bedroom full of unreality, yet it makes David happy. This, sadly, is humanity, Kubrick says.
Thematically and aesthetically, there are lots of problems with the film. Firstly, Spielberg puts the silly Flesh Fair before Rogue City. You cannot have Hell precede sin. Secondly, the dialogue is constantly spoon-feeding the audience. Thirdly, the film is poorly cast and acted (Chris Rock, Robin Williams etc). Fourthly, all the designs not made by Kubrick (the flesh fair, the motorcycles) are stupid. Fifthly, the Blue Fairy/Monica mirroring is not made apparent. Kubrick's drafts had the fairy dissolve into dust and Monica, a hologram, dissolve into pixels when touched. Both David's fairy tale (religion) and SuperMecha's fairytale (cinematic fable) were implicitly linked. In Spielberg's film, both women and narrative layers are not. The sixth and biggest problem is that the AI are portrayed as being inferior to humans. Spielberg treats them as battered ethnic minorities, instead of exponentially advancing beings who quickly take God's place.
The ending of "AI", though hated by critics, is the most interesting thing about the film. Kubrick is affirming "2001's" bedroom sequence, saying effectively that to become human is to die. It's no surprise that David and Dave Bowman both share the same first name. To remain Dave Bowman is to never become the StarChild.
David wants to become a human. In Kubrick's eyes, this means he is fundamentally flawed. To the SuperMecha and the StarChildren, David is a quaint object. They shall continue progressing, continue evolving, while he sits there, pretending to sleep, remaining blissfully deluded.
Thus, while "2001" had man fight machine and become God, "AI" presents the flip-side. HAL wins. In the war between machine logic and human superstition, machine becomes God and humanity fades away, nothing but a memory.
5/10- Shot like a big budget TV movie, Spielberg ruined what could have been the greatest scifi film since "2001: A Space Odyssey".
"2001" ended in a bedroom. In that film, God-like beings created a simulated cage for us to shed our old bodies and become something greater than ourselves. Kubrick's second scifi epic likewise ends in a bedroom. In this film, God-like begins create a simulated cage for us to cling to our comfortable delusions.
"AI" is a fairy tale told by Mechas to Mechas. It is an allegory in which the humans are the divine beings and the robots are the humans. While "2001" dealt with the death of God, "AI" deals with the destruction of heaven, that place of happiness and illusion (ie a programmed simulation). To paraphrase Professor Hobby, "man's fundamental flaw is his insistence on hoping for things that don't exist."
With "AI", we have two stories, a science fiction story, and a fairytale story. While "Full Metal Jacket" dealt in twos, and "Eyes Wide Shut" with reflections, "AI's" narrative is staggered. That is, the scifi story begins and ends one act before the fairytale story.
"2001" incorporated much mythic symbolism, using Homer's Odyssey and Nietzsche's Zarathustra as a backbone. With "AI", Kubrick draws from the Adam and Eve myth, and Dante's Inferno.
The film begins with God creating man. When David meets Professor Hobby (God), Hobby says: "My son was one of a kind. You are the first of a kind." The line is a nod to Biblical lore, where God's "only begotten son" was "one of a kind" and his first creation, was "the first of a kind". Thus David is symbolic of both Jesus and Adam. First God and first man.
The first act of the film takes place in the Garden of Eden, with Monica becoming symbolic of Paradise and eternal happiness. David is ejected from heaven because he disobeys God's programming and eats the forbidden fruit (spinach). When David is cast out of Eden, he finds himself first in the Dark Wood and then in Rouge City (earthly sin). After sinning, he is cast into the Flesh Fair, which represents hell and eternal punishment. After his punishment he is cast into the Atlantic Ocean, where, after 2000 years of being "washed" and cleansed of sin (Dante's Purgatory), he is set free and permitted to enter heaven (eternal life with Monica). Unfortunately, this promise of paradise is an illusion. He learns from the SuperMecha that he can only have Monica for one day. His first lines to her ("Would you like some coffee?") highlights his fears that she will die and go to sleep forever. He wants her to stay awake. He wants her to be real.
The death of God is symbolised when humanity dies and the earth becomes frozen over. The reign of man has ended. With it, goes his beliefs, morals and customs. SuperMecha, themselves nothing more than evolved humans, are now the rulers of the land. After the singularity, they are the next stage in intelligent evolution. In a sense, they are the Star Children of "2001".
Significantly, while the Mecha reject God (see how Joe humours David's irrational beliefs during the Dr Know scenes), David continues in his "programmed irrationality". In the scifi story, this leads to David's wish (the blue fairy) dissolving before his eyes. In the fairytale story, David's wish (Mommy) also perishes, but he chooses to remain deluded. He chooses to become human and enter that place where (false) dreams are made.
Thus, to be human, David - whom Kubrick likens to the "artificial intelligence" of Spielberg/modern cinema - has to regress to an infantile state. He has to shut his eyes to believe in his simulational (ie cinema projection) paradise and the storybook fables his Mommy once read to him. David is a machine in a SuperMecha (ie Kubrickean) simulation, cradling his simulated mother in his metal arms. It's an entire bedroom full of unreality, yet it makes David happy. This, sadly, is humanity, Kubrick says.
Thematically and aesthetically, there are lots of problems with the film. Firstly, Spielberg puts the silly Flesh Fair before Rogue City. You cannot have Hell precede sin. Secondly, the dialogue is constantly spoon-feeding the audience. Thirdly, the film is poorly cast and acted (Chris Rock, Robin Williams etc). Fourthly, all the designs not made by Kubrick (the flesh fair, the motorcycles) are stupid. Fifthly, the Blue Fairy/Monica mirroring is not made apparent. Kubrick's drafts had the fairy dissolve into dust and Monica, a hologram, dissolve into pixels when touched. Both David's fairy tale (religion) and SuperMecha's fairytale (cinematic fable) were implicitly linked. In Spielberg's film, both women and narrative layers are not. The sixth and biggest problem is that the AI are portrayed as being inferior to humans. Spielberg treats them as battered ethnic minorities, instead of exponentially advancing beings who quickly take God's place.
The ending of "AI", though hated by critics, is the most interesting thing about the film. Kubrick is affirming "2001's" bedroom sequence, saying effectively that to become human is to die. It's no surprise that David and Dave Bowman both share the same first name. To remain Dave Bowman is to never become the StarChild.
David wants to become a human. In Kubrick's eyes, this means he is fundamentally flawed. To the SuperMecha and the StarChildren, David is a quaint object. They shall continue progressing, continue evolving, while he sits there, pretending to sleep, remaining blissfully deluded.
Thus, while "2001" had man fight machine and become God, "AI" presents the flip-side. HAL wins. In the war between machine logic and human superstition, machine becomes God and humanity fades away, nothing but a memory.
5/10- Shot like a big budget TV movie, Spielberg ruined what could have been the greatest scifi film since "2001: A Space Odyssey".