Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Robot Stories

This is topic Robot Stories in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000719

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 01-30-2004, 11:30 AM:

I've shown this three times and seen it a fourth time from the audience, which means that I've probably seen this film more than pretty much anyone else not connected with its production (it has been making the rounds on the festival circuit for the last year or so). Since it's finally getting a theatrical release (opens in NYC in two weeks) and is being self-distributed, I figured that I should probably write a review.

Anyway, this is a collection of four shorts (packaged and intended to be shown together) about man's relationship to machines. In the first piece ("My Robot Baby"), a couple intending to adopt a baby must, at some indeterminate point in the future, first care for a robotic toy for a period of time, in an attempt to gauge their ability as parents. In "The Robot Fixer," a mother deals with the death of her twentysomething son by completing his collection of toy robot action figures. In "Machine Love," two robot "iPersons" fall in love. In the final short ("Clay"), an old man at some point in the future resists having his brain "scanned" so that he can "live forever" (electronically).

It sounds corny, but it really isn't. The second piece is by far the best; at one screening, a woman actually had to leave the room as she began to cry. The final short is the least appealing to me, but many people like it best. Go figure.

Anyway, despite being hard to describe, the film "works" very well with many different audiences, including the Asian-American crowd (most of the actors are Asian), the sci-fi crowd, and the art-house crowd. Despite being shot on video (PAL DVCAM), it's beautifully photographed (and nicely transferred to film), and
the acting and direction are top notch.

Definitely seek this one out. Every time I see this I notice details that I had missed in previous viewings, and the audience reaction is always interesting as well. Current release plans include NYC, DC, and LA, with other cities and festivals to follow.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-24-2004, 03:25 PM:

This deserves a bump. It's currently playing in NYC (will be held over for a third week!) and DC and opens in Boston (well, Cambridge) on Friday. There was a good piece on NPR this afternoon about the film.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-24-2004, 05:28 PM:

I'd like to try it--hopefully one of the art screens here will take a chance on it.

The film sounds like a live-action take on Robot Carnival, an animated Japanese anthology done back in 1987. In that film, nine top animation directors were asked to contribute short stories on the general theme of robots. Another very pretty art film if you can find a print or VHS of it.