A.I. Artificial Intelligence

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A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Directed by	Steven Spielberg
Produced by	Steven Spielberg Bonnie Curtis Kathleen Kennedy Jan Harlan Walter F. Parkes
Written by	Brian Aldiss (short story) Ian Watson (screen story) Steven Spielberg (screenplay)
Starring	Haley Joel Osment Frances O'Connor Jude Law Sam Robards Jake Thomas William Hurt
Music by	John Williams
Cinematography	Janusz Kamiński
Editing by	Michael Kahn
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (North America) DreamWorks (International)
Release date(s)	June 29, 2001
Running time	146 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100 million
Gross revenue	$235.93 million
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (also known as Artificial Intelligence: A.I. or simply A.I.) is a 2001 science fiction film directed, produced and co-written by Steven Spielberg. Based on the short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, the film stars Haley Joel Osment, Frances O'Connor, Jude Law, Sam Robards, Jake Thomas and William Hurt. The film takes place at an unspecified date in the future, and tells the story of David, a mecha programmed with the ability to love. David is adopted by a married couple, but is then left on his own with a robotic teddy bear and a male prostitute mecha named Gigolo Joe.

The film was originally to be directed by Stanley Kubrick, but after his death Steven Spielberg took over the film. A.I. was dedicated in part to Kubrick.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Video game sequels 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Plot

The story is set at an unspecified date in the future. Global warming has led to an ecological disaster resulting in rising sea levels and a drastic reduction of the human population. Cities like New York City and Venice are flooded ruins. Mankind's efforts to maintain civilization lead to the creation of android artificial intelligence (known as "mecha"). These efforts culminate with the creation of David, an android child programmed with the ability to love. Cybertronics, the company that created David, wish to test their latest creation on a loving couple wanting a child. They approach one of their employees with the idea. Henry and Monica Swinton are a married couple whose son Martin is dying of a rare illness. Hoping for a cure, the Swintons have their son placed in a state of suspended animation until a cure can be found. The emotional toll of Martin's absence nearly shatters the marriage. Henry is approached by Cybertronics and agrees to bring David home to Monica. Although she is initially frightened of the android, she eventually warms to him after activating his imprinting protocol, which irreversibly causes David to feel love for her as a child loves a parent. As he continues to live with the Swintons, David is befriended by Teddy, a mecha toy, that takes upon itself the responsibility of David's well being.

Martin is eventually cured of his illness and is brought home. The two are expected to live together like brothers, but a sibling rivalry builds between them. Martin's jealousy prompts him to manipulate David into more and more irrational behavior but his scheming backfires when he and his friends activate David's self-protection programming at a pool party. Thinking himself in danger, David grabs hold of Martin, begging him to "keep me safe". David falls into the pool, taking Martin with him, and sinks to the bottom. Martin is saved from drowning but David's actions prove too much for Henry. Concerned that David's new found ability to love has also produced an ability to hate, Henry wants David returned to the manufacturer. Rather than turning David over to be destroyed, Monica releases him and Teddy into the forest to live as unregistered mechas, warning David to avoid the "flesh fairs", events where mechas are destroyed before cheering crowds by anti-mecha groups. David is captured and nearly destroyed at such a flesh fair, but the crowd is swayed by his "realness" and he escapes, along with Gigolo Joe, a prostitute mecha on the run after being framed for the murder of a client.

The two set out to find the Blue Fairy, whom David remembers from the story The Adventures of Pinocchio as a being who has the power to turn him into a real boy, so Monica will love him and take him back. Joe and David make their way to the decadent metropolis of Rouge City, in search of the knowledge to find the fairy. Information from a holographic personality called Dr. Know eventually leads them to the top of Rockefeller Center in the flooded ruins of Manhattan. They meet another David mecha, which David lashes out at and destroys to preserve his unique place in Monica's heart. David's human creator, Professor Hobby (William Hurt), enters and excitedly tells David that finding him was a test, which has demonstrated the "realness" of his love and desire, and the emergence of a self-motivated will to chase his dreams. To Hobby, this proves that David is a success as a robot model and the line of Davids will be fit for the general market. Disheartened, David allows himself to tumble from a ledge into the ocean. David sinks to the streets of submerged Manhattan and sees what he believes to be the Blue Fairy. Joe tries to rescue him, but is taken by the authorities, his last words being to wish David luck.

David and Teddy return in a submersible to the fairy, which turns out to be a statue from an attraction at Coney Island. Teddy and David become trapped when the park's ferris wheel falls on their vehicle. Believing the Blue Fairy to be real, he asks to be turned into a real boy, repeating his wish without end, until the ocean freezes. 2,000 years later, Manhattan is buried under several hundred feet of glacial ice, and humans are extinct.^[1] Mechas have evolved into an alien-looking humanoid form.^[2] In the process of excavating New York City from the ice, they find David and Teddy: functional mechas who knew living humans. David wakes up and walks to the frozen statue of the fairy, which cracks and collapses as he touches it. Using David's memories, the mechas reconstruct the Swinton home, and explain to him via a mecha of the Blue Fairy that he cannot become human. However, they can manipulate spacetime to resurrect Monica via DNA, and a lock of her hair has been faithfully saved by Teddy, but she will live for only a single day and the process cannot be repeated. David spends the happiest day of his life alone with Monica and Teddy, painting and playing. By that evening, Monica tells David that she loves him and has always loved him, then drifts to sleep for the final time, David lying beside her. This was the "everlasting moment" he had been looking for, he closes his eyes, falls asleep for his first time, and goes "to that place where dreams are born".

[edit] Cast

• Haley Joel Osment as David: A mecha
• Frances O'Connor as Monica Swinton:
• Jude Law as Gigolo Joe:
• Sam Robards as Henry Swinton:
• Jake Thomas as Martin Swinton:
• William Hurt as Prof. Hobby:

Jack Angel provides the voice of Teddy, while Brendan Gleeson cameos as Lord Johnson-Johnson. Robin Williams (Dr. Know), Meryl Streep (Blue Fairy), Ben Kingsley (Specialist) and Chris Rock (Mecha Comedian) also have voice cameos.

[edit] Production

Kubrick began development for Super-Toys Last All Summer Long (before changing it to A.I) in the early 1970s, bringing the short story's writer Brian Aldiss to write a story treatment. The film labored in development hell, with Aldis being fired over creative differences the late-1980s.^[3] Bob Shaw served as co-writer very briefly, leaving after six weeks because of Kubrick's demanding work schedule. Kubrick was able to get A.I. acquired at Warner Brothers, and brought Jan Harlan to produce. Kubrick hired Ian Watson to write the film in March 1990. Aldiss later remarked, "Not only did the bastard fire me, he hired my enemy instead" (referring to Watson). Kubrick handed Watson The Adventures of Pinocchio for inspiration, calling the film "a picaresque robot version of Pinocchio".^[4][5]

Three weeks later Watson gave Kubrick his first story treatment. Watson worked on the project until May 1991, coming up with a 90-page story treatment. Gigolo Joe was originally a GI character, but Watson suggested having a gigolo-robot. Kubrick responded with, "I guess we lost the kiddie market, but what the hell."^[4] In the meantime, Kubrick dropped A.I. to work on a film adaptation of Wartime Lies. Kubrick felt that visual effects were not advanced for wish to use computer animation for the David character. However, after the release of Jurassic Park (with its heavy use of computer-generated imagery), it was announced in November 1993 that production would begin in 1994.^[6] Dennis Muren and Ned Gorman] became visual effects supervisors,^[3] alongside Chris Cunningham. Some of Cunningham's unproduced work for A.I. can be seen on The Work of Director Chris Cunningham.^[7] In early-1994 the film was in pre-production with Christopher "Fangorn" Baker as a concept artist, with Sara Maitland providing "a feminist fairy-tale focus".^[4] Kubrick and Steven Spielberg had been friends when they shared a set for Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Shining at Elstree Studios.^[8] Spielberg was brought on to produce the film, while Kubrick and Jan Harlan thought that A.I. would be closer to Spielberg's sensibilities as director.^[9] Kubrick put the film on hold due to his commitment on Eyes Wide Shut.^[10] With Kubrick's death in May 1999, Warner Bros. still owned the film rights, handing A.I. to Steven Spielberg.^[11] By November 1999 Spielberg was writing the script based on Watson's 90-page story treatment. It was his first script he wrote since Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).^[12]

Production was briefly halted through February 2000 since Spielberg was unsure of his plans to direct first (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Minority Report, Memoirs of a Geisha or A.I.).^[13][10] By March 2000 Spielberg announced a July 10 start date for A.I.^[9] Spielberg homaged Kubrick's obsessively secretive approach to filmmaking by refusing to give the complete script to cast and crew, banning press from the set, and making actors sign confidentiality agreements. Spielberg also remained close to Watson's story treatment, but took out a number of sex scenes with Gigolo Joe, which Kubrick had in mind. Cynthia Breazeal served as a consultant to the film.^[9] Spielberg found great difficulty with post production on A.I. because he was in pre-production of Minority Report.^[14]

[edit] Reception

As marketing, Warner Bros. used "a Blair Witch-style internet marketing campaign titled The Beast. More than 40 websites were created. To avoid marketing confusions with A.I. being a family film, the filmmakers decided not to release any action figures, although Hasbro released a talking teddy bear in October 2001.^[9] The film had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.^[15] A.I. opened on June 29, 2001, earning $29,352,630 in its opening weekend in 3,242 theaters. The film went on to gross $78.62 million in North America, and $157.31 in foreign countries, coming to a worldwide total of $235.93 million. A.I. earned twice as much money overseas than it did in North America, which is an infrequent occurance. The film was a financial success since it recouped twice the amount of its $100 million budget.^[16] Based on 181 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 72% of reviewers enjoyed the film, with the consensus of "a curious, not always seamless, amalgamation of Kubrick's chilly bleakness and Spielberg's warm-hearted optimism, A.I. is, in a word, fascinating.".^[17] By comparison Metacritic collected an average score of 65, based on 32 reviews.^[18]

Visual effects supervisors Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Michael Lantieri and Scott Farrar were nominated the Academy Award for Visual Effects, while John Williams was nominated for Original Music Score.^[19] Steven Spielberg, Jude Law and Williams received nominations at the 59th Golden Globe Awards.^[20] The visual effects department was once again nominated at the 55th British Academy Film Awards.^[21] A.I. was successful at the Saturn Awards. Spielberg (for his writing), the visual effects department, Williams and Haley Joel Osment (Performance by a Younger Actor) won respective categories. The film also won Best Science Fiction Film and DVD release. Frances O'Connor and Spielberg (as director) were also nominated.^[22]

[edit] Video game sequels

The main storyline featured in The Beast were to be the subject of a video game released at the time of the film's theatrical release. More video games on the Xbox video game system were to be released over the years, but for unknown reasons, the games were not released.^[9]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence at Allmovie
• Artificial Intelligence: A.I. at the Internet Movie Database
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence at Rotten Tomatoes
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence at Box Office Mojo
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence at IGN
• Super-Toys Last All Summer Long
• Jude Law Interview by Charlie Rose
• The Kubrick FAQ's entry on A.I.
• Jon Bastian (2001-07-13). "A.I. in Depth", Filmmonthly.com. 
• Dana Haris (2000-07-12). "Robards smart enough for Spielberg's A.I", Variety. 
• Bill Higgins (2000-11-06). "BAFTA hails Spielberg", Variety. 
• Army Archerd (2000-06-20). "A.I. A Spielberg/Kubrick prod'n", Variety. 

Awards
Preceded by X-Men	Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film 2001	Succeeded by Minority Report

v • d • e Films directed by Steven Spielberg 1970s The Sugarland Express (1974)  · Jaws (1975)  · Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)  · 1941 (1979) 1980s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)  · E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)  · Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)  · The Color Purple (1985)  · Empire of the Sun (1987)  · Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)  · Always (1989) 1990s Hook (1991)  · Jurassic Park (1993)  · Schindler's List (1993)  · The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)  · Amistad (1997)  · Saving Private Ryan (1998) 2000s A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)  · Minority Report (2002)  · Catch Me if You Can (2002)  · The Terminal (2004)  · War of the Worlds (2005)  · Munich (2005)  · Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) TBA Tintin  · Lincoln  · The Trial of the Chicago 7  · Interstellar See also List  · Amblin Entertainment  · DreamWorks  · Shoah Foundation / USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education

v • d • e Stanley Kubrick Short films Day of the Fight (1951) • Flying Padre (1951) • The Seafarers (1953) 1950s Fear and Desire (1953) • Killer's Kiss (1955) • The Killing (1956) • Paths of Glory (1957) 1960s Spartacus (1960) • Lolita (1962) • Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) • 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 1970s A Clockwork Orange (1971) • Barry Lyndon (1975) 1980s and 90s The Shining (1980) • Full Metal Jacket (1987) • Eyes Wide Shut (1999) See also World Assembly of Youth • Artificial Intelligence: A.I. (2001) • Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001) • Colour Me Kubrick (2006)