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A.I. Artificial Intelligence

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A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Directed bySteven Spielberg
Written byBrian Aldiss (short story)
Ian Watson (screen story)
Steven Spielberg (screenplay)
Produced bySteven Spielberg
Stanley Kubrick
Jan Harlan
Kathleen Kennedy
Walter F. Parkes
Bonnie Curtis
StarringHaley Joel Osment
Frances O'Connor
Jude Law
Sam Robards
Jake Thomas
William Hurt
Narrated byBen Kingsley
CinematographyJanusz Kamiński
Edited byMichael Kahn
Music byJohn Williams
Distributed byWarner Bros.
(North America)
DreamWorks (International)
Release dates
June 29, 2001
(North America)
September 13, 2001
(Australia)
September 21, 2001
(United Kingdom)
Running time
146 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100 million
Box office$235.93 million

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.

Development of A.I. began with Stanley Kubrick in the early 1970s. Kubrick brought a series of writers up until the mid-1990s, including Brian Aldiss, Bob Shaw, Ian Watson and Sara Maitland. The film was pushed back due for years because Kubrick felt computer-generated imagery was not advanced enough to create the David character, whom he believed no child actor would believably portray. In 1995 Kubrick handed A.I. to Spielberg, but the film did not gain momentum until the death of Kubrick in 1999. Spielberg remained close to Watson's film treatment for the screenplay, and replicated Kubrick's secretive style of filmmaking. A.I. was greeted with positive and financial success. However, a number of critics were confused over the ending, believing the evolved mechas were aliens.

Plot

The story is set at an unspecified date in the future. Global warming has led to ecological disasters all over the world, and a drastic reduction of the human population. Mankind's efforts to maintain civilization lead to the creation of "mechas". David, an android child programmed with the ability to love, is created by the Cybertronics company. They test their creation on one of their employees, Henry Swinton and his wife Monica. The Swintons have a son Martin who has been placed in suspended animation until a cure can be found for his rare disease. Although Monica is initially frightened of David, 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 and brought home, but a sibling rivalry ensues between Martin and David. Martin's scheming behavior backfires when he and his friends activate David's self-protection programming at a pool party. Martin is saved from drowning but David's actions prove too much for Henry. It is decided for David to be abandoned (alongside Teddy) in a forest to live as unregistered mechas. David is captured for a Flesh Fair, an event where useless mechas are destroyed before cheering crowds by anti-mecha groups. David is nearly killed, but the crowd is swayed by his realistic nature and he escapes, along with Gigolo Joe, a male prostitute mecha on the run after being framed for murder.

The two set out to find the Blue Fairy, whom David remembers from the story The Adventures of Pinocchio. Like the story, he believes that she will transform 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. Information from a holographic personality called "Dr. Know" eventually leads them to the top of the Rockefeller Center in the flooded ruins of Manhattan. David's human creator, Professor Hobby, enters and excitedly tells David that finding him was a test, which has demonstrated the reality of his love and desire. A disheartened David attempts to commit suicide by falling from a ledge into the ocean, but Joe rescues him, just as he is captured by the authorities.

David and Teddy take a submersible to the fairy, which turns out to be a statue from a submerged 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. 2000 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] They find David and Teddy: functional mechas who knew living humans. David wakes up and realizes the fairy was fake. 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 recreate Monica from 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. 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".

Cast

  • Haley Joel Osment as David: A mecha created by Cybertronics programmed with the ability to love. He is adopted by Henry and Monica Swinton, but a sibling rivalry ensues once Martin comes out of suspended animation. Osment was Spielberg's first and only choice for the role. The two had met before Spielberg finished the screenplay. Osment decided it was best not to blink his eyes to perfectly portray a robot. He also set himself to have good posture.[3]
  • Frances O'Connor as Monica Swinton: David's adopted mother who reads him The Adventures of Pinocchio. She is first displeased to have David at her house but soon falls in love with him. Monica becomes deeply devastated when it is decided to abandon David.
  • Jude Law as Gigolo Joe: A male prostitute mecha programmed with the ability to love, like David, but in a different sense. Gigolo Joe uses songs such as "I Only Have Eyes for You" and "Bobbie, Walter" to seduce woman. He meets David at a Flesh Fair and takes him to Rogue City. Law took inspirations from Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly for the portrayal of Gigolo Joe.[4]
  • Sam Robards as Henry Swinton: An employee at Cybertronics and husband of Monica. Henry is reluctant to have David home, but soon feels David is becoming a danger to the family.
  • Jake Thomas as Martin Swinton: Martin and Monica's first son who was placed in suspended animation. When Martin comes back, he convinces David to cut off a lock of Monica's hair.
  • William Hurt as Prof. Hobby: He is responsible for commissioning the creation of David. He resides in the ruined city Manhattan.

Jack Angel provides the voice of Teddy, while Brendan Gleeson cameos as Lord Johnson-Johnson. Robin Williams voices Dr. Know, Meryl Streep voices Blue Fairy, Ben Kingsley narrates the film as the leader of the evolved mechas, and Chris Rock plays a mecha killed at the Flesh Fair.

Production

File:Haley joel osment6.jpg
David, holding Teddy, and Joe in Rouge City

Kubrick began development for Super-Toys Last All Summer Long (before changing it to A.I) in the early 1970s, hiring the short story's author Brian Aldiss to write a film treatment. In 1985 Kubrick brought longtime friend Steven Spielberg to produce the film,[5] along with Jan Harlan, with Warner Bros. to distribute.[6] A.I. labored in development hell, with Aldiss being fired over creative differences in the late 1980s.[7] Bob Shaw served as writer very briefly, leaving after six weeks because of Kubrick's demanding work schedule. 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 [Watson] instead." Kubrick handed Watson The Adventures of Pinocchio for inspiration, calling the film "a picaresque robot version of Pinocchio".[6][8]

Three weeks later Watson gave Kubrick his first story treatment, and concluded his work on A.I. in May 1991 with a 90-page story treatment. Gigolo Joe was originally a GI character, but Watson suggested changing him to a gigolo. Kubrick joked "I guess we lost the kiddie market."[6] In the meantime, Kubrick dropped A.I. to work on a film adaptation of Wartime Lies, feeling computer animation was not advanced enough to create 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.[9] Dennis Muren and Ned Gorman, who worked on Jurassic Park, became visual effects supervisors,[7] but Kubrick was displeased with their previsualization, and the expense of hiring Industrial Light & Magic.[2]

In early 1994 the film was in pre-production with Christopher "Fangorn" Baker as concept artist, and Sara Maitland assisted on the story, which gave it "a feminist fairy-tale focus".[6] Maitland said that Kubrick never referred to the film as A.I., but as Pinocchio.[2] Chris Cunningham became the new visual effects supervisor. Some of his unproduced work for A.I. can be seen on the DVD The Work of Director Chris Cunningham.[10] Aside from considering computer animation, Kubrick had Joseph Mazzello do a screen test for David.[2]

Cunningham helped assemble a series of "little robot-type humans" for the David character. Harlan said "We tried to construct a little boy with a movable rubber face to see whether we could make it look appealing. But it was a total failure, it looked awful." Hans Moravec became a technical consultant.[2] Meanwhile, Kubrick and Harlan thought A.I. would be closer to Spielberg's sensibilities as director.[11][12] Kubrick handed the director's position to Spielberg in 1995, but Spielberg chose to direct other projects, and convinced Kubrick "I feel you should direct".[13][14] Kubrick put the film on hold due to his commitment to Eyes Wide Shut (1999).[15] After Kubrick died in May 1999, Harlan and Christiane Kubrick approached Spielberg to take over the director's position.[16][17] By November 1999 Spielberg was writing the screenplay based on Watson's 90-page story treatment. It was his first solo screenplay since Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).[18] Spielberg remained close to Watson's story treatment, but removed various sex scenes with Gigolo Joe, which Kubrick had in mind.[12]

Stanley [Kubrick] showed Steven [Spielberg] 650 drawings which he had, and the script and the story, everything. Stanley said, "Look, Why don't you direct it and I'll produce it." Steven was almost in shock.

—Producer Jan Harlan, on Spielberg's first meeting with Kubrick about A.I.[13]

Pre-production was briefly halted during February 2000, because Spielberg pondered directing four other projects, which were Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Minority Report, Memoirs of a Geisha and a Charles Lindbergh biopic.[19][15] Spielberg brought Chris Baker back as concept artist.[14] The original start date was July 10,[12] but filming was delayed until August.[20] The Swinton house was constructed on Stage 16 at Warner Bros. Studios, while Stage 20 was used for other sets. A.I. was mostly shot on sound stages, except for a couple of scenes in Oregon.[21][22] Spielberg copied 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. Scientist Cynthia Breazeal served as technical consultant.[12][23] Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law applied prosthetic makeup to look "shinier, very robotic-like".[3] Bob Ringwood (Batman, Troy) served as the costume designer. For the citizens of Rogue City, Ringwood studied people on the Las Vegas Strip.[24] Spielberg found post production on A.I. difficult because he was simultaneously preparing to shoot Minority Report.[25]

Reception

Warner Bros. used an internet marketing campaign, reminiscent of the one used to promote The Blair Witch Project, titled The Beast. Over forty websites were created. There were to be a series of video games for the Xbox video game console that followed the storyline of The Beast, but they went undeveloped. To avoid audiences mistaking A.I. for a family film, no action figures were created, although Hasbro released a talking Teddy following the film's release in October 2001.[12] The film had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.[26] A.I. opened in 3,242 theaters in the United States and Canada on June 29, 2001, earning $29,352,630 during its opening weekend. The film went on to gross $78.62 million in North America as well as $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 a rare occurrence. The film was a modest financial success since it recouped twice the amount of its $100 million budget.[27]

Based on 181 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 72% of reviewers enjoyed the film. The website described the critical consensus perceiving the film as "a curious, not always seamless, amalgamation of Kubrick's chilly bleakness and Spielberg's warm-hearted optimism. [The film] is, in a word, fascinating."[28] By comparison Metacritic collected an average score of 65, based on 32 reviews.[29]

Jan Harlan stated that Kubrick "would have applauded" the final film, while Kubrick's widow Christiane also enjoyed the film.[30] Richard Corliss heavily praised Spielberg's direction, as well as the cast and visual effects.[31] Roger Ebert wrote that it was "Audacious, technically masterful, challenging, sometimes moving [and] ceaselessly watchable. [But] the movie's conclusion is too facile and sentimental, given what has gone before. It has mastered the artificial, but not the intelligence."[32] Jonathan Rosenbaum compared A.I. to Solaris (1972), and praised both "Kubrick for proposing that Spielberg direct the project and Spielberg for doing his utmost to respect Kubrick's intentions while making it a profoundly personal work."[33]

James Berardinelli found the film "consistently involving, with moments of near-brilliance, but far from a masterpiece. In fact, as the long-awaited 'collaboration' of Kubrick and Spielberg, it ranks as something of a disappointment."[34] Mick LaSalle gave a largely negative review. "A.I. exhibits all its creators' bad traits and none of the good. So we end up with the structureless, meandering, slow-motion endlessness of Kubrick combined with the fuzzy, cuddly mindlessness of Spielberg." Dubbing it Spielberg's "first boring movie", LaSalle also believed the robots at the end of the film were aliens, and compared Gigolo Joe to the "useless" Jar Jar Binks.[35] Peter Travers gave a mixed review, concluding "Spielberg cannot live up to Kubrick's darker side of the future."[36] Spielberg responded to some of the criticisms of the film, stating that many of the "so called sentimental" elements of A.I., including the ending, were in fact Kubrick's and vice-versa the darker elements were his own.[37]

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.[38] Steven Spielberg, Jude Law and Williams received nominations at the 59th Golden Globe Awards.[39] The visual effects department was once again nominated at the 55th British Academy Film Awards.[40] A.I. was successful at the Saturn Awards. Spielberg (for his screenplay), the visual effects department, Williams and Haley Joel Osment (Performance by a Younger Actor) won in their respective categories. The film also won Best Science Fiction Film and for its DVD release. Frances O'Connor and Spielberg (as director) were also nominated.[41]

References

  1. ^ Jim Windolf (2007-12-02). "Q&A: Steven Spielberg". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e "The Kubrick FAQ Part 2: A.I.". The Kubrick Site. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  3. ^ a b Haley Joel Osment, A Portrait of David, 2001, Warner Home Video; DreamWorks
  4. ^ Jude Law, A Portrait of Gigolo Joe, 2001, Warner Home Video; DreamWorks
  5. ^ Scott Brake (2001-05-10). "Spielberg Talks About the Genesis of A.I.". IGN. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  6. ^ a b c d "Plumbing Stanley Kubrick". Ian Watson. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  7. ^ a b Steven Gaydos (2000-03-15). "The Kubrick Connection". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  8. ^ Dana Haris (2000-03-15). "Spielberg lines up A.I., Report". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  9. ^ Christian Moerk (1993-11-02). "A.I. next for Kubrick at Warners". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  10. ^ "The Work of Director Chris Cunningham". NotComing.com. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  11. ^ "A.I. Artificial Intelligence". Variety. 2001-05-15. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  12. ^ a b c d e Liane Bonin (2001-06-28). "Boy Wonder". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  13. ^ a b Kenneth Plume (2001-06-28). "Interview with Producer Jan Harlan". IGN. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  14. ^ a b Steven Spielberg, Jan Harlan, Kathleen Kennedy, Bonnie Curtis, Creating A.I., 2001, Warner Home Video; DreamWorks
  15. ^ a b Christian Moerk (1999-12-23). "Spielberg encounters close choices to direct". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  16. ^ Scott Brake (2001-06-29). "Producing A.I.". IGN. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  17. ^ Army Archerd (1999-07-15). "Annie Tv'er nab tops talent". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  18. ^ Michael Fleming (1999-11-16). "West persues Prisoner; Spielberg scribbles". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  19. ^ Peter Bart (2000-01-24). "It's scary up there". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  20. ^ Brian Zoromski (2000-06-30). "A.I. Moves Full Speed Ahead". IGN. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  21. ^ Scott Brake (2000-08-03). "A.I. Set Reports!". IGN. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  22. ^ Christopher "Fangorn" Baker, Rick Carter, A.I. From Drawings to Sets, 2001, Warner Home Video; DreamWorks
  23. ^ Bill Higgins (2000-11-06). "BAFTA hails Spielberg". Variety. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  24. ^ Bob Ringwood, Dressing A.I., 2001, Warner Home Video; DreamWorks
  25. ^ Charles Lyons (2001-01-18). "Inside Move: Cruise staying busy". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  26. ^ David Rooney (2001-04-16). "'Dust' in the wind for Venice fest". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  27. ^ "A.I. Artificial Intelligence". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  28. ^ "A.I. Artificial Intelligence". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  29. ^ "A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  30. ^ Army Archerd (2000-06-20). "A.I. A Spielberg/Kubrick prod'n". Variety. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  31. ^ Richard Corliss (2001-06-17). "A.I. – Spielberg's Strange Love". Time. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  32. ^ "A.I. Artificial Intelligence". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  33. ^ Jonathan Rosenbaum (2001-06-29). "The Best of Both Worlds". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  34. ^ James Berardinelli (2001-06-29). "A.I." ReelViews. Retrieved 2008-08-06. {{cite news}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  35. ^ Mick LaSalle (2001-06-29). "Artificial foolishness". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  36. ^ Peter Travers (2001-06-21). "A.I. Artificial Intelligence". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  37. ^ Mark Kermode (2006-11-04). "Steven Spielberg". The Culture Show. BBC Two. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ "Academy Awards: 2002". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  39. ^ "59th Golden Globe Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  40. ^ "55th British Academy Film Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  41. ^ "Saturn Awards: 2002". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
Template:S-awards
Preceded by Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
2001 		Succeeded by
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