A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001) was the last project that filmmaker Stanley Kubrick worked on.

Kubrick had long planned to film A.I. but had been putting it off until he was confident that the effects could be handled convincingly, all the while working on the script in close cooperation with Steven Spielberg. After many years of exchanging ideas about the project Kubrick became convinced that this film needed Spielberg's 'different kind of sensitivy' and urged him to direct the film. Spielberg finally accepted, using Kubrick's storyboard, and writing the script himself.

Kubrick died before the film shooting started.

The movie stars:

  • Haley Joel Osment as David, a young Mecha
  • Jude Law as Gigolo Joe, David's companion and also a Mecha
  • Frances O'Connor II as Monica Swinton
  • Brendan Gleeson as Lord Johnson-Johnson
  • Sam Robards as Henry Swinton, David's adopted father
  • William Hurt as Professor Allen Hobby, David's creator
  • Jake Thomas as Martin Swinton

It was adapted by Kubrick, Ian Watson and Spielberg from the short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long by Brian Aldiss.

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Effects, Visual Effects and Best Music, Original Score.

Table of contents
1 Plot
2 Website Game
3 External link

Plot

Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers

The film is set in the 22nd century, where robots with very high levels of artificial intelligence have become commonplace. George and Monica Swinton are a couple whose son is extremely sick and near death. In a fit of desperation, George buys an extremely advanced humanoid robot, called a Mecha that resembles a boy about the age of their hospitalized son. The Mecha's name is David, and although Monica is initially frightened of the machine, she eventually warms to it.

The couple's son eventually recovers from his disease and returns from the hospital. This prompts a sort of "sibling rivalry" between the Mecha David and Swintons' real son. After a particularly troublesome incident, David runs away, feeling unloved and unwanted. He eventually travels to the city, where he meets up with Gigolo Joe, a male prostitute mecha. The two become friends and set out to find the "blue fairy," who David remembers from the Pinocchio story as a being who has the power to turn him into a "real boy."

Website Game

The movie had an unusual publicity campaign consisting of a "game" involving approximately 30 interlinked websites. The websites purported to be sites for a number of organisations (universities, businesses, and personal home pages) set in the fictional world of the movie in the 22nd century. Hints to the websites' existence were contained in posters, trailers and other movie publicity materials. This type of game is known as an Alternate Reality Game.

By studying the information on the sites, a story set in the world of the movie involving the murder of one Evan Chan became apparent. Solving various puzzles and hints, some involving email, physical meetings in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, telephone calls and telephone answering services, allowed the unlocking of more websites which gradually revealed the story of whodunnit and why.

External link