"Robot Stories" tells four stories following the theme of isolation, and its remedy, or lack thereof, through technology. "My Baby Robot" shows couple seeking to adopt a child who are given a robot infant to test their worthiness for a human child. "The Robot Fixer" deals with an emotionally-distant mother whose son lies brain-dead in a coma. When she finds remnants of his boyhood toy robot collection, she seeks to complete and restore the collection. In "Robot Love," a humanoid office robot with the ability to interact is frustrated by his human co-workers unwillingness to do so. The final tale, "Clay," tells the story of a dying sculptor given to the opportunity to have his mind scanned so that his consciousness can survive after his death in huge database.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw this film. From the trailer, I expected a somewhat whimsical piece about love and robots, and the third tale with its G9 iPerson is certainly whimsical enough, but I found the overall film much more emotionally challenging and moving than I anticipated. The second and fourth stories were the best.
SPOILERS....
"The Robot Fixer" is hardly science fiction at all. The only robots are little plastic toys. The film starts with a mother, wonderfully played by Wai Ching Ho, arriving to find her son lying in a coma. It soon becomes clear her son was a disappointment to her, and that she never understood him. She later goes to his apartment and finds a collection of toy robots he saved from childhood. The mother realizes the fact that her son saved the robots all these years showed that they were important to him. In an attempt to understand him better, and perhaps draw him out of his coma, she goes to great lengths to repair the robots and bring them to his bedside in the hospital. She poignantly doesn't succeed in drwaing him from the coma, but learns a great deal about herself and her son in the process.
In "Clay," a dying sculptor is required to have his brain scanned so that his consciousness can survive in a huge database. The artist, played by Sab Shimono, resists, despite knowing that the process indeed works. His deceased wife survives in the database and visits him in holographic form. She is, in fact, a better wife to him dead than she was alive. Not only does she love him more now, she has achieved a blissful state of happiness in the database. That's one of the problems. The artist knows he has lived a selfish life and doesn't deserve the happiness he would find in the database. He'd rather take his chances on a natural death than survive in a reality he finds false and artificial.
"Robot Stories" is an excellent first feature by writer/director Greg Pak. I look forward to seeing another one.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw this film. From the trailer, I expected a somewhat whimsical piece about love and robots, and the third tale with its G9 iPerson is certainly whimsical enough, but I found the overall film much more emotionally challenging and moving than I anticipated. The second and fourth stories were the best.
SPOILERS....
"The Robot Fixer" is hardly science fiction at all. The only robots are little plastic toys. The film starts with a mother, wonderfully played by Wai Ching Ho, arriving to find her son lying in a coma. It soon becomes clear her son was a disappointment to her, and that she never understood him. She later goes to his apartment and finds a collection of toy robots he saved from childhood. The mother realizes the fact that her son saved the robots all these years showed that they were important to him. In an attempt to understand him better, and perhaps draw him out of his coma, she goes to great lengths to repair the robots and bring them to his bedside in the hospital. She poignantly doesn't succeed in drwaing him from the coma, but learns a great deal about herself and her son in the process.
In "Clay," a dying sculptor is required to have his brain scanned so that his consciousness can survive in a huge database. The artist, played by Sab Shimono, resists, despite knowing that the process indeed works. His deceased wife survives in the database and visits him in holographic form. She is, in fact, a better wife to him dead than she was alive. Not only does she love him more now, she has achieved a blissful state of happiness in the database. That's one of the problems. The artist knows he has lived a selfish life and doesn't deserve the happiness he would find in the database. He'd rather take his chances on a natural death than survive in a reality he finds false and artificial.
"Robot Stories" is an excellent first feature by writer/director Greg Pak. I look forward to seeing another one.