Since the birth of cinema, film-makers have endeavoured to bring their own distinctive vision of artificial intelligence to the big screen. From the phonograph voiced Alicia in L’Eve Futur (1896), Scarlett Johansson’s disembodied Samantha of the divisive Her (2013) to the mysterious android Ava of Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. Robots have played significant roles in the evolution of film sci-fi, their designs reflecting the aesthetic and cultural values of each era and our respective ability to conceive of such mechanisms as being within the realms of possibility. The theme is more often than not focussed on the prospect of something we create achieving consciousness or even surpassing us, used as a positive or a negative, very much as we swing between the prospect of aliens being friendly, or not (Stephen Hawking thinks not).
We have seen the clunky likes of Frankenstein (1931), The Golem (1915) and Robocop (1987) to cutesy pet-like appliances Wall.E (2008) and Johnny Five (Short Circuit (1986). Sleek androids such as Sonny from I, Robot (2004), the T1000 and the homicidal psycho-bots of Westworld (1973), The Terminator (1984) and numerous low budget B movies. The concept of a robot has evolved hugely from its original definition of “slave” (thank you Edgar Wright) to the point where the term seems somewhat dated and associated with androids of old like Klaatu from The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) and Forbidden Plant’s Robby.
In Ex Machina the AI Ava (played by Alicia Vikander) is a machine constructed by a reclusive megalomaniac Nathan (played by Oscar Isaac) then questioned and psychoanalysed by Domhnall Gleason’s computer programmer Nathan, using “the Turing Test” to determine whether or not she/ it has consciousness.
Female-bodied AIs have also been a significant genre element yet have been mostly conceived as manipulative constructions with murderous intent or questionable, ulterior motives. The fake Maria in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) causes murder and pandemonium as do the homicidal androids Eve from Eve of Destruction (1991) and Kristanna Loken’s T-X from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). Meanwhile the soulless dead-eyed droids from The Stepford Wives (1975) operate accordingly as programmed by a secret society of conspiring husbands/ businessmen as did the scantily-clad Fembots of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1996) until they crumbled under the might of Austin’s sexual prowess. More recently Scarlet Johansson’s Samantha from Her (2013) was not as humane as originally considered by the film’s protagonist, or he was unprepared for a relationship with her, which lead to the character’s heartache and abandonment.
Jonathan Glazier’s Under The Skin (2014) recently presented Scarlett Johansson’s extraterrestrial femme-fatale luring men to their doom in the guise of a human. Ex Machina occasionally suggests that Ava could be doing the same with the simmering threat of danger throughout. This illustrates the rich, complex nature of the film but also highlights an area that should be addressed in the genre and tackled more in film and society in general. The fact that female incarnations of the conscious machine have not really evolved past being destructive in some way is quite telling.
While Ex Machina does address issues regarding sexuality it doesn’t directly tackle equality in society. The most apparent theme is one that has been addressed before in sci-fi: mankind’s tendency to play God by dabbling with science and technology to the point where it could lead to our extinction. Due to the psychoanalytical nature of the Ex Machina’s narrative and its large abundance of dialogue-based deconstruction scenes, various themes simmer beneath the storyline but only slightly rise in retrospect and could be put aside as being perhaps a mere construction of the viewer’s mind.
Ex Machina can be interpreted as a social commentary, a philosophical allegory about the nature of self, as well as a thrilling piece of sci-fi cinema. The manner in which Caleb questions Ava, forces the viewer to do the same while the AI also ponders its own existence and wonders what it’s like to be human, which is also a common staple of robots on film. Both Pinocchio (1940) and the Tin Man from The Wizard Of The Oz (1939) yearn to be human, or at least have a heart as does Haley Joel Osment’s David from AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001) while HAL’s farcical doppelganger “Bomb” (also voiced by Adam Beckenbaugh) in John Carpenter’s Dark Star (1974) ponders its role in the universe before serving it’s ultimate purpose.
Robots/ AI/ cyborgs and androids serve as fascinating examples of how we perceive ourselves as humans and with those concepts Alex Garland’s Ex Machina serves as a scintillating, thought-provoking piece of modern genre art and entertainment. It is the likes of Ex Machina that will hopefully pave the way for more interesting and intelligent genre movies by daring visionaries from all walks of life, beckoning those with a unique vision who are willing to break artistic boundaries and address important issues within their work.
Daniel awarded Ex Machina four Torches of Truth
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