| A.I. Artificial Intelligence | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Steven Spielberg |
| Produced by | Steven Spielberg Stanley Kubrick Jan Harlan Kathleen Kennedy Walter F. Parkes Bonnie Curtis |
| Written by | Brian Aldiss (short story) Ian Watson (screen story) Steven Spielberg (screenplay) |
| Narrated by | Ben Kingsley |
| 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 (North America) September 13, 2001 (Australia) September 21, 2001 (United Kingdom) |
| Running time | 146 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million |
| Gross revenue | $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. A.I. 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.
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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, who takes upon himself 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 which 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 playing with Monica and Teddy. Monica tells David that she loves him and has always loved him as she drifts to sleep for her final time. 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".
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.
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]
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 Rouge 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]
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 million 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]
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| Preceded by X-Men |
Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film 2001 |
Succeeded by Minority Report |
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