Sunday, 20 November 2016

A.I. Film Review by Thomas, Michael and Isabelle


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A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Film Review by Thomas Costenaro, Michael Hum and Isabelle Goureev


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 Starring
Haley Joel Osment (David), Frances O’Connor (Monica Swinton), Sam Robards (Henry Swinton), Jake Thomas (Martin Swinton), Jude Law (Gigolo Joe)

Writer and Director
Steven Spielberg

Running Time
2h26min(IMDb)

Film Review
        Set in the distant future, an American company called Cybertronics aspires to make a robot, a "mecha," that will independently choose to love and dream as well as be loved by humans. One employee, Henry Swinton and his wife Monica become ideal test subjects for the first robot child as their son Martin is currently in a “pending” state, frozen within a glass case until a cure is found for his condition. Although hesitant and still mourning the loss of her son, Monica decides to imprint on David, making their bond permanent, ironically just before Martin recovers from his "pending" state and comes home. After experiencing some of David’s weird and dangerous behaviours, Monica abandons David in the forest fearing that he might jeopardise the safety and integrity of her real family. David sets out on a quest to find the Blue Fairy from the story of Pinocchio believing she can turn him into a real boy and then Monica will love him again. In the wild, David realizes the truth about how humans view his kind after surviving the Flesh Fair with Gigolo Joe, a mecha prostitute. David and Joe venture to Rouge city to speak to Dr. Know, whom Joe reports will have the answer to where the Blue Fairy is. Following Dr. Know’s instructions, he finds Prof. Hobby and his lab where David realises that he is not unique and then jumps into the ocean in his sadness. There he finds a statue of the Blue Fairy and remains there for 2,000 years praying to be turned into a real boy. Futuristic robots find him and recreate David's home with the Swinton's, including bringing back his mother for a day. At the end of that day, David is finally at peace.

         Throughout the film, various cinematic techniques are used such as sound and lighting. At the beginning of the film when Monica interacts with David for the first time, the director uses the nondiegetic sound of strange creepy music to show how weird David’s behaviour is and to give the viewer a better sense of the strangeness and awkwardness of David. Similarly, mechanical noises such as whirring and buzzing or metal joints creaking are heard to remind us that the character speaking is in fact a robot and not a human. At one point, David falls into the pool after almost drowning Martin; he is left underwater watching and listening to his family. The audio in that scene is from David’s POV which demonstrates his loneliness and gives the viewer a sense of what he’s feeling.

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The lighting in the movie changes as the story progresses. The lighting is bright and lively at the start, a sign of hope and potential. However, it quickly becomes dark after Monica abandons David. This sets the mood in the film for a much darker, sad theme. Occasionally, something bright stands out in the darkness, such as the moon which gives guidance to David & Joe in their journey towards Rouge City. Only at the end of the film does brightness take over the screen once more. Two thousand years have passed and the recreated reality that the futuristic robots make for David bring him a sense of true joy and peace.

Sets, although constructed of inanimate objects, are also important for setting the mood of a scene. The film starts at Cybertronics, a clean, industrial and modern facility. During a meeting, there, as light pours in through open windows, over 100 employees gather to discuss the possibilities of scientific advancement in the world of "mecha." Continuing in the film, the Swinton home is upscale and contemporary however, unlike Cybertronics, it still contains elements like old-fashioned photographs and wooden floors that give it a homey, organic feel. The next main setting is the forest in which Monica leaves David to fend for himself. It is dark, crowded with trees, and muddy which invokes a sense of helplessness and an inability to escape from any dangers. David and Joe are indeed caught and brought to the Flesh Fair, a place where mecha are destroyed in various ways for “a celebration of life.” However, with a strange heavy metal band playing at one end of an oval shaped arena, it much more closely resembles an extremely distorted form of the Colosseum of the Roman Empire. After a narrow escape, the duo make their way to Rouge City. Paralleling Las Vegas, the sky is dark but the city is bright and garish with a way to satisfy your every passion and desire. The final main location is Manhattan. It may have once been dubbed the “city that never sleeps” (Flannigan, Timout.com) but all life in Manhattan is sleeping now. Apart from some of the tallest buildings, the entire city is drowned under water. A single sign of human existence remains….the Cybertronics office.

And so we are brought full circle, back to Cybertronics where the movie started. Henry Swinton, the first test subject to accept a robot that had the potential to love into their life, is portrayed as good dad trying to do what he thinks is best for his family. He introduces David to Monica with excitement but interestingly enough he never imprints himself as David's father. Eventually, Henry shows a high level of distaste for David and his weird behaviors. Monica, on the other hand, is grieving until she imprints herself as David's mother who then for the first time calls her "mommy" rather than "Monica" It's at this point she develops a love for David and joy returns to her life. However, she returns to a state of sadness when she gives him up. Gigolo Joe is not as highly developed as David but shows some independent emotional capacities. Although programmed to satisfy people’s physical and sensual desires, he is also kind and demonstrates so by choosing to help David on his journey to find the Blue Fairy. Prof.  Hobby is someone trying to lead the future of AI with more realistic robots but at the end of the film we realize that much of his motivation stems from trying to fill a gap in his heart left by the death of his young son. David, the mecha, in fact was a robotic replica of his son and even shared his name. And finally, David starts off as naive curious little boy but as he experiences the harsh reality of his world he loses his innocence, and even his desire to continue "living." However, he has independently developed desires and dreams such as wanting to become a real boy and he will strive to have them fulfilled. When his mom is brought back his mood completely changes and is happy again. 

The emotional diversity of various characters would not be visible without an exceptional and skilled cast to portray them. Artificial Intelligence possesses such a cast. All the actors playing a role as a mecha did a great job to show variances in mechas’ abilities. Jude Law was especially convincing Gigolo Joe fully capturing his role as a pleasure robot. Theo Greenly, who had a small role, playing a boy who is at a birthday party for Martin Swinton was nevertheless an example of the fine casting in this film. Within a matter of seconds, he can switch from laughing at David, to curiosity, to persuasion, and finally to fear. Sam Robards and Frances O’Connor play Henry and Monica Swinton respectively and have a wonderful chemistry. Their characters have a similar development pattern but in opposite directions. Henry initially shows excitement in progressing science and accepts David into their family. However, by the end, Henry has regressed and fears David. Monica, however, has no interest in having David as part of their family. As the days pass though, and she is able to observe how normal David appears, she decides to imprint and she fully embraces David into their family. Henry and Monica would end up having a big argument on what to do with David when he begins to show some more erratic behavior. It is scenes such as these that show their character's contrasting development pattern and the actors' abilities to play off of each other.  Haley Osment put on an exceptional performance as David. At the start of the film, David looked like a robot however, as the film progress Haley made micro adjustments to the character so that by the end David appeared very much like a real boy. The cast for the film is filled with talent and A list actors including voice cameos by Chris Rock and the late Robin Williams.

A unique but generally unnoticed technique of filmmaking is foreshadowing. In the second scene of the movie, Martin is “frozen” and eventually reunites with his parents and in a similar manner David is literally frozen before being reunited with his mom. When David falls in the pool at Martin’s birthday party then just lays at the bottom in sadness foreshadows him jumping into the ocean in Manhattan. Gigolo Joe strongly believes and states that only robots will survive in the end and he is completely correct. Another technique used is flashback. When tells a story to David that she also told to Martin, she has a small flashback to Martin in the capsule.

Finally, camera angles are used to demonstrate intentions and the big picture. For example, when David jumps off the Cybertronics building and falls into the water, a wide-angle shot is used to show a blue fairy statue in the distance. A close-up is then used to capture David’s reaction which is one of hope to get to the blue fairy once more. However, before he can do so, he is snatched out of the water by Gigolo Joe.

Some of the main themes present in the film are unrequited love, artificial intelligence and equality. Issues and questions raised by the film include the morality, ethical concerns and possible consequences of creating AI, what rights to AI robots have or do even have any, in what circumstances do we give AI moral value, can AI truly love humans, can humans love them back and if so what do we owe them in return since they are almost human? Other questions asked are What does it mean to be human? What is our future? Why are robots so negatively viewed even if they often set a better example for us as humans?          


        Word Count: 1741 words                   

    Review                  

Artificial Intelligence is a film of many strengths but also has some flaws that can’t be ignored. Those will be mentioned shortly but first to give credit where it is due. This movie, in terms of its cinematic qualities, is superb. The lighting, sound, and CGI blend together beautifully to enrapture the audience and obliterate any doubts of whether an aspect of the film is real or not, much as artificial intelligence is supposed to do. The actors also have excellent chemistry and talent to portray a variety of characters where each contributes to the story no matter how small the part is. Another strong point is that the film poses ideas that challenge us deeply on a psychological level. For example, the robots being destroyed at the Flesh Fair have no independent will. However, when David is about to be destroyed, he shows emotion and a desire to live and because of that the onlookers save him. Scenes such as these challenge the idea of what it takes to be given the same rights as a human being and even what it means to be human.

Now while these are wonderful qualities in a film, there are flaws that can sometimes be painfully noticed. For example, the length of some scenes is entirely too long. From the point of David finding the Blue Fairy statue to the end of the film, which required very little change in scenery or plot, uses up almost a full half hour. There are some plot holes as well. The future robots could obtain access to all information in David’s brain but there is no evidence as to whether they used it for any purpose in the future. Also, at the end of the film when David lies down next to his mother, it is unclear if he “dies” or just falls asleep. Despite a confusing and somewhat long ending, this is a captivating film fully deserving a 4-star rating.

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Course Connections

1) In the film, the people at the Flesh Fair assign moral value to David when he cries for help as he is about to be melted. People assigned him moral value even though he was mecha since they empathised with him and thought it wasn’t fair because he’s “just a boy”. An example of course material that specifically relates to this is the robot Robovie who was put in a closet during a board game. The researcher, who is comparable to the host of the Flesh Fair in terms of his role, puts Robovie in a closet. The kids empathised with him and assigned him moral value which lead to them pleading that it wasn’t fair even though he’s “just a robot”. This is the same case with David since they didn’t agree with the host and protested the unfairness even though he’s a mecha.

2) When we first see David, his behaviour puts him in the uncanny valley since his behaviour and movement seems very artificial and robotic in contrast to his human physical appearance. David is in the uncanny valley more for viewer than the human characters in the film since they are used to living with ultra-realistic robots. For the viewer, David might be in the uncanny valley for the whole film or not at all but for us we found that he left the uncanny valley when Monica imprinted on him because he seemed more human and alive and was less socially awkward and robotic after that moment.

3) In many ways, the relationship between mecha and humans in the film can be compared to the bond between animals and humans as we studied in the "Minds of Their Own" article. For a long time, animals were deemed incapable of having a thought process. However, not all scientists were satisfied, and began to research a way to "prove that an animal is capable of thinking - that it is able to acquire information about the world and act on it" (Morell, National Geographic). Animals and developed mecha also both show a capacity to learn. In "Minds of Their Own," various projects are described in which animals are taught to perform certain tasks, recognize colors and shapes, and be able to communicate with human words. In a similar manner, David remains highly observant of how humans act around him and he learns to act similarly to blend in. For example, the David watches Henry and Monica eat at the dinner table and he soon too pretends to eat with a fork and drink water. Another resemblance is how humans view animals vs how mecha are viewed by humans in the film. Many animals are widely accepted by humans such as dogs or cats which are taken in as pets. However, humans will often fear the animals they do not understand or that they believe pose a threat. For example, people are horrified by how a spider's 8 legs can all move at once or they refuse to go swimming in the ocean for fear of being attacked by a shark. In much the same way, the mecha of the film that were strictly functional were accepted. But when they increased in number and intelligence, humans began to fear them and sought out a way to destroy them. Even in acceptance, such as with one of Gigolo Joe's clients, the first words out of her mouth are "I'm afraid" (Watson, Screenplays for You). Later on, Gigolo Joe summed this fear while in conversation with David, "You are not a dog, a cat or a canary. you were designed and built specific, like the rest of us....They made us too smart, too quick, and too many. We are suffering for the mistakes they made because when the end comes, all that will be left is us" (Watson, Screenplays for You). 

Questions

1. Do you think our society can reach a state where it would be normal for a human to fully love a robot?
2. David is more technologically advanced than other robots and thus is given more privileges. What similar examples of inequality do we see in our lives/society and how should they affect us?
3. Gigolo Joe is a "mecha" prostitute. What are your thoughts towards having sex with a robot and what are some of the moral and ethical implications?

Web links

A study had found that humans have the potential to emphasise with robots as much as they emphasise for other humans. The article shows that there is a “girlfriend robot” that kept company to thousands of heart broken people. There are some robots that can read your emotions. And while experts disagree on the benefits of having robots disagree, the technological advances being made show that one day robots and humans may co-exist and have intimate and/or sexual relationships.

Some study shows that by 2029, robots will be as smart as humans are and that by 2045, computers will be many times more powerful than humans’ intelligence. As machine intelligence reaches a point where it is equal to mans’, the ability to physically change our bodies with cyber parts will become a possibility and the economy will double within each month. With this quick progression, microbiologist Slonczewski asks “could we evolve ourselves out of existence, being gradually replaced by the machines?”


Works Cited

"A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)." IMDb.com, n.d.,   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212720/. Accessed 23 October 2016..

"Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001) by Ian Watson and Brian Aldiss. The Complete Dialogue." Screenplays for You, https://sfy.ru/transcript/ai_ts. Accessed 20 November 2016. 

Flannigan, Jenna. “A history of NYC nicknames.” TimeOut. 18 Jan. 2011, https://www.timeout.com/newyork/attractions/a-history-of-nyc-nicknames-history
Accessed 5 November 2016.

Ghose, Tia. “Intelligent Robots Will Overtake Humans by 2100, Experts Say.” LIVESCIENCE, 7 May 2013, http://www.livescience.com/29379-intelligent-robots-will-overtake-humans.html. Accessed 5 November 2016.

    Morell, Virginia. "Minds of their Own." National Geographic, March 2008, ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2008/03/animal-minds/virginia-morell-text. Accessed 20 November 2016. 

Zolfagharifard, E. & Prigg. M. “Could YOU fall in love with a robot? Study suggests we feel as much empathy for droids as we do for other people.” MailOnline, 4 November 2015, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3304286/Could-humans-fall-love-robots-Study-suggests-feel-empathy-droids-people.html. Accessed 5 November 2016.


Sunday, 6 November 2016

Altered States

Altered States quoted from Imbd.com

Altered States (1980)

R | 1h 42min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller | 25 December 1980 (USA)Director: Ken RussellWriters: Paddy Chayefsky (written for the screen by) (as Sidney Aaron), Paddy Chayefsky (novel)Stars: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid


Altered States Poster

Altered States Trailer


FILM REVIEW



 The film takes place in the late 1960's and 1970's, set in several locations including New York, Cambridge, and the Mexican wilderness. The story is centered around Harvard university professor Dr. Eddie Jessup. In a prologue to the main events of film we see that while Eddie was a graduate student, he and his colleague Arthur Rosenberg conducted an experiment with an isolation chamber which gave him religious hallucinations. It was during this time that Eddie met his future ex-wife and biological anthropologist, Emily, and she falls in love with him.

Fast forward several years and we find Eddie and Emily are getting divorced. Eddie finds himself discontent with his respectable position at the university and desires to conduct more research on the altered states of consciousness. Emily is heading to Africa with their two children while Eddie plans to continue research he started years ago with the isolation chamber. Eddie learns of a Mexican Tribe's ritual that he believes can intensify his sensory deprivation chamber experience. After joining one of the rituals Eddie returns home with a sample of the hallucinogenic drugs the natives refer to as "first flower".



Returning to the US Eddie begins experimenting using a repaired university isolation chamber to compliment the effects of the first flower. It is from here that Eddie begins to undergo increasingly radical changes. These "regressions" lead to Eddie eventually reverting into an ancestor of the homo-sapiens. Claiming his visions have manifested two of his colleagues, Arthur Rosenberg and Mason Parrish, involve themselves in his research and test his claims with blood-tests and x-rays.

Eddie's colleagues and his returning ex-wife begin to worry about his well-being. They all agree to monitor him in his next experiment so he can prove his claims are true. However this time Eddie regresses further into a non-physical form of pure consciousness. The regression's energy disorients his colleagues until Emily manages to reach the maelstrom of consciousness that has taken the place of the chamber. She reaches Eddie and helps him reconstitute and the group takes him home to assess what has happened. While watching over him Emily finds Eddie regressing again, now without the need for the hallucinogen or isolation chamber. When trying to help him again she gets caught up in the process and begins to radiate with energy. Eddie now fearing for his loved one resists the regression and returns to human form and embraces Emily in the final scene.


Eddies religious hallucination 
The writer of Altered States, Paddy Chayefsky, credited it to his pseudonym Sidney Aaron when he was dissatisfied with the tone of the film. Chayefsky and the director Ken Russel had disagreements throughout the production even though little was changed from the original script. The movie was the debut of William Hurt who played Eddie Jessup. The cast also featured Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, and Charles Haid playing Emily Jessup, Arthur Rosenberg, and Mason Parrish respectively.
There were several unrealistic aspects of the plot. That Eddie wasn't discredited was a big one as he is a professor at Harvard and none of his peers respect his claims of regression. It would be far more likely if someone claimed they were reverting to a primitive human that they would be placed in a mental institution. Another that was brought up is Emily's unconditional love for a man who seems indifferent about their marriage. Even when they first meet Eddie only goes on about his research that would eventually end their marriage. He keeps this arrogant and insensitive attitude towards her throughout the film. Their interactions lack any real human connection. Lastly, during the primitive man's rampage we see him run through the city, kill a goat, and overpower two full grown men. The scene is overall comedic however it still seems unrealistic for a tiny ape man to subdue two larger able-bodied men who are armed with batons, especially as he's jumping around and screaming ridiculously.

Eddie Jessup's character is the only one who gets any development throughout the film. He was obsessed with finding the original self and selfishly went about it without concern of how it affected those around him, until the end when he saw it was literally killing Emily and he put an end to it. However the other actors remain as two-dimensional support characters. This is especially true for Emily, who's only role is to validate Eddie character through unconditional love. We have no explanation as to why her character may behave as such other than the stereotype that the female lead must be obsessed with the male lead. Eddie's two colleagues, Arthur and mainly Mason, are meant to contest Eddie's claims to add a sense of struggle as the movie lacks a primary antagonist. Though they are justified in doubting him, coming of more as the voice of reason given Eddie is experimenting with untested drugs and is studying what his institution and peers would likely consider pseudoscience.
The film used practical effects and primitive CGI in some scenes. There were many hallucination scenes that included foreshadowing such as one that referenced killing the goat near the beginning. Many of Eddie's experiments take place in the basement and the ritual takes place in a dark cave. These dark themes associate his research as being unconventional. Similar two these sets his work is meant to go below the surface. These contrast with many of the dialogue scenes which take place in well lit set. This is a good representation of the waking consciousness and subconscious states Eddie is researching as things seem to get darker every time he continues his research.

In this movie Eddie tries to answer many of the popular questions such as "what's the meaning of life?" and "what is reality?" however it leads him to the realization that his present human self is all that really matters. He abandons his search for meaning after he experiences the pure conscious form and embraces Emily. Thus ending up where he could have been from the start. The movie also suggests the hidden potential in our human consciousness as Eddie achieves all this by digging into his own mind. It almost seems in the end that he decides this pure form was too much for him and is happy to be human again.
(Word Count 1045)

Eddie fighting his regression


Strengths and Weaknesses
By modern special effect standards "Altered States" is definitely lacking. However given that it was released in 1980 its a bit unfair to compare it to the latest CGI summer blockbuster. The special effect scenes are somewhat confusing to follow however it fits the context of hallucinogenic drugs and deprivation chambers  In the scene where Jessup is the proto-human the effects make it feel as if he really has gone primal on his laughable rampage. The weakness of the film would be the under developed secondary characters, who come of as two-dimensional. Emily for example is only present to give validation to Jessup's character with her affections, although she lacks any logical reason to care for Eddie who neglects her for his work. The movie doesn't even develop a plausible reason the character might act that way. On top of the lacking character development the film fails the feminist test, in which two named female character must have a conversation about something other than a man. The film did receive an Oscar nomination for sound, though lost it to "Empire Strikes Back".

Rating:

3/5 stars


Course Connections

State Consciousness:
The main connection between the film “Altered States” and the class or more preferably, a topic covered in class is the state of consciousness. In class, we discussed that consciousness as a whole, is based supremely on reaction and feeling, I mean yeah there is an actual definition which is “the quality or state of being able to perceive or be aware of an external object or something within oneself” (Study guide #1), however we were told it was a problematic one so scratch that, and we’ll focus on the “right one” being something/someone having some kind of mental activity going on, therefore anything we are aware of at a given time. Edward Jessup as mentioned already but will get re-mentioned because its just that important, has this intense obsession with consciousness, and believes "our other states of consciousness are as real as our waking states, hence is experiments and bad trips. "Throughout the movie you see Edward Jessup experimenting with different conscious states through mind altering drugs and isolation tanks. One second he’s in a human state of consciousness and the next second he’s in a non-human animal state, eating away at a poor goat.

Epistemology:
 Epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge. A lot of questions are asked in this concept. For example, what do we know, what can we know, how do we know, what are the limits of our knowledge? Many of these questions Eddie Jessup, in Altered States, asks himself constantly. By being really curious about the reality about the world and being curious about his inner self, Eddie Jessup did many experiences in an isolation tank. He found many evidence of the knowledge of himself and about the world around him

Core Self:
The core self, one of the material we learned in class, is present in the movie: Altered States. In class, we learned that the core self is reflected on the knowledge of itself: “This inner model represents the creature’s own body in its environment.” Meaning that the creature is aware of its surrounding and of its own existence: “This self-mediates between the organism and the external world.” In Altered States, the main character Eddie Jessup has done many experiences trying to know his inner abilities. Each time he turns into another form of creature, Eddie is not aware of the self. He is not conscious of the self and can’t reflect on it. When he transformed into a primate, he didn’t know anything about the time he was in the state: "Apparently I entered a very primitive consciousness. All I can remember is what was comprehensible to that consciousness. I don't remember, at least not clearly, how I got out of the tank room."


Arthur Rosenberg monitoring Eddie

Questions



1) In your opinion is there an original self? Would you support Eddie  when he was trying to find the original self or would you support him when he settled on his present self being all he should be concerned with?

2) Was Eddie right to go on this mission for the original self or not especially given that he ended up where he could have been all along (but instead practically ruined his marriage and almost killed himself)

3) Do you think that altered states of consciousness, achieved through meditation, drugs, sensory deprivation etc can reveal truths to us that would be otherwise unavailable?


TWO WEBSITES WITH LINKS TO THINGS RELATED TO THEMES TO THE FILM

Eddie was experimenting with hallucinogens to alter his state of mind. Other drugs such as LSD have been used in therapy in the past and have proven to alter our state of mind.

 http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/new-science-lsd-therapy

Eddie also involved a sensory deprivation chamber in is research. These instruments have been used in therapy in the past as well as for recreational use.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2014/04/04/floating-away-the-science-of-sensory-deprivation-therapy/#.WDItX_krLcs


Works Cited

"Altered States - Wikipedia." N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.

"Altered States". IMDb.com. IMDb.com inc. n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2016.

          McKinney, Kelly. "Study Guide for Test #1". August 31. 2016. November 16. 2016.

Altered States

Altered States quoted from Imbd.com

Altered States (1980)

R | 1h 42min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller | 25 December 1980 (USA)Director: Ken RussellWriters: Paddy Chayefsky (written for the screen by) (as Sidney Aaron), Paddy Chayefsky (novel)Stars: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid


Altered States Poster

Altered States Trailer


FILM REVIEW



 The film takes place in the late 1960's and 1970's, set in several locations including New York, Cambridge, and the Mexican wilderness. The story is centered around Harvard university professor Dr. Eddie Jessup. In a prologue to the main events of film we see that while Eddie was a graduate student, he and his colleague Arthur Rosenberg conducted an experiment with an isolation chamber which gave him religious hallucinations. It was during this time that Eddie met his future ex-wife and biological anthropologist, Emily, and she falls in love with him.
Fast forward several years and we find Eddie and Emily are getting divorced. Eddie finds himself discontent with his respectable position at the university and desires to conduct more research on the altered states of consciousness. Emily is heading to Africa with their two children while Eddie plans to continue research he started years ago with the isolation chamber. Eddie learns of a Mexican Tribe's ritual that he believes can intensify his sensory deprivation chamber experience. After joining one of the rituals Eddie returns home with a sample of the hallucinogenic drugs the natives refer to as "first flower".
Returning to the US Eddie begins experimenting using a repaired university isolation chamber to compliment the effects of the first flower. It is from here that Eddie begins to undergo increasingly radical changes. These "regressions" lead to Eddie eventually reverting into an ancestor of the homo-sapiens. Claiming his visions have manifested two of his colleagues, Arthur Rosenberg and Mason Parrish, involve themselves in his research and test his claims with blood-tests and x-rays.
Eddie's colleagues and his returning ex-wife begin to worry about his well-being. They all agree to monitor him in his next experiment so he can prove his claims are true. However this time Eddie regresses further into a non-physical form of pure consciousness. The regression's energy disorients his colleagues until Emily manages to reach the maelstrom of consciousness that has taken the place of the chamber. She reaches Eddie and helps him reconstitute and the group takes him home to assess what has happened. While watching over him Emily finds Eddie regressing again, now without the need for the hallucinogen or isolation chamber. When trying to help him again she gets caught up in the process and begins to radiate with energy. Eddie now fearing for his loved one resists the regression and returns to human form and embraces Emily in the final scene.
The writer of Altered States, Paddy Chayefsky, credited it to his pseudonym Sidney Aaron when he was dissatisfied with the tone of the film. Chayefsky and the director Ken Russel had disagreements throughout the production even though little was changed from the original script. The movie was the debut of William Hurt who played Eddie Jessup. The cast also featured Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, and Charles Haid playing Emily Jessup, Arthur Rosenberg, and Mason Parrish respectively.
There were several unrealistic aspects of the plot. That Eddie wasn't discredited was a big one as he is a professor at Harvard and none of his peers respect his claims of regression. It would be far more likely if someone claimed they were reverting to a primitive human that they would be placed in a mental institution. Another that was brought up is Emily's unconditional love for a man who seems indifferent about their marriage. Even when they first meet Eddie only goes on about his research that would eventually end their marriage. He keeps this arrogant and insensitive attitude towards her throughout the film. Their interactions lack any real human connection. Lastly, during the primitive man's rampage we see him run through the city, kill a goat, and overpower two full grown men. The scene is overall comedic however it still seems unrealistic for a tiny ape man to subdue two larger able-bodied men who are armed with batons, especially as he's jumping around and screaming ridiculously.
Eddie Jessup's character is the only one who gets any development throughout the film. He was obsessed with finding the original self and selfishly went about it without concern of how it affected those around him, until the end when he saw it was literally killing Emily and he put an end to it. However the other actors remain as two-dimensional support characters. This is especially true for Emily, who's only role is to validate Eddie character through unconditional love. We have no explanation as to why her character may behave as such other than the stereotype that the female lead must be obsessed with the male lead. Eddie's two colleagues, Arthur and mainly Mason, are meant to contest Eddie's claims to add a sense of struggle as the movie lacks a primary antagonist. Though they are justified in doubting him, coming of more as the voice of reason given Eddie is experimenting with untested drugs and is studying what his institution and peers would likely consider pseudoscience.
The film used practical effects and primitive CGI in some scenes. There were many hallucination scenes that included foreshadowing such as one that referenced killing the goat near the beginning. Many of Eddie's experiments take place in the basement and the ritual takes place in a dark cave. These dark themes associate his research as being unconventional. Similar two these sets his work is meant to go below the surface. These contrast with many of the dialogue scenes which take place in well lit set. This is a good representation of the waking consciousness and subconscious states Eddie is researching as things seem to get darker every time he continues his research.

In this movie Eddie tries to answer many of the popular questions such as "what's the meaning of life?" and "what is reality?" however it leads him to the realization that his present human self is all that really matters. He abandons his search for meaning after he experiences the pure conscious form and embraces Emily. Thus ending up where he could have been from the start. The movie also suggests the hidden potential in our human consciousness as Eddie achieves all this by digging into his own mind. It almost seems in the end that he decides this pure form was too much for him and is happy to be human again.
(Word Count 1045)


Strengths and Weaknesses
By modern special effect standards "Altered States" is definitely lacking. However given that it was released in 1980 its a bit unfair to compare it to the latest CGI summer blockbuster. Thn when they are confusing it fits the premise of sensory deprivation chambers and hallucinogenic drugs. In the scene where Jessup is the "protohuman" the effects make it feel as if he really has gone primal ADD SOMETHING ABOUT HOW IT WAS ALSO LAUGHABLE. The weakness of the film would be the under developed secondary characters, who come of as two-dimensional. Emily for example is only present to give validation to Jessup's character with her affections, although she lacks any logical reason to care for Eddie who neglects her for his work. The movie doesn't even develop a plausible reason the character might act that way. On top of the lacking character development the film fails th e feminist test, in which two named female character must have a conversation about something other than a man.

Rating:

3/5 stars



Course Connections:
STATE CONSCIOUSNESS- The title of the movie is referring to the altered states of consciousness. While in a sensory deprivation chamber as Eddie was, people tend to have vivid dreams or hallucinations. These experiences although devalued by his colleagues at first they still make up Dr. Jessup's consciousness. In the film, different states of consciousness were pursued because they were able to tap into the true nature of "reality" and the origins of the primordial self. 
In class we vaguely define consciousness as “the quality or state of being able to perceive or be aware of an external object or something within oneself”. Eddie becomes aware of the "protohuman" and other older states of his self and chooses to explore it in a search for meaning.
The Core Self- In the climax of the movie Eddie transforms into the "original self". In his basic form he is still his "self" but without the complexities that made him Dr Eddie Jessup. Its only when he reverts back to his human self he can reflect on his own opinion of his self. FIND THE SCENE IN THE FILM WHERE HE TALKS ABOUT BEING A CORE/MINIMAL SELF. 
EPISTEMTOLOGY--HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW? WHAT CAN BE KNOWN--HERE YOU NEED TO FIND ANOTHER COURSE CONNECTION 

Questions:
1) REWORD THIS SO EASIER TO UNDERSTAND AND MORE INTERESTING TO ANSWER
2)Was Eddie right to go on this mission for the original self or not especially given that he ended up where he could have been all along (but instead practically ruined his marriage and almost killed himself)
3) Do you think that altered states of consciousness, acheived through meditation, drugs, sensory deprivation etc can reveal truths to us that would be otherwise unavailable?


TWO WEBSITES WITH LINKS TO THINGS RELATED TO THEMES TO THE FILM--
1) RECENT RESEARCH ON THE THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS OF HALLUCINOGENS--LIKE MUSHROOMS AND LSD
2) THerapeutic effects of sensory deprivation tanks??? THESE LINKS DO NOT NEED TO BE DIRECLTY RELATED TO THE FILM


Works Cited


"Altered States - Wikipedia." N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.

"Altered States". IMDb.com. IMDb.com inc. n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2016.

Blade Runners

Blade Runner



Title of Film: Blade Runner
Year of Publication: 1982
Director: Ridley Scott
Screen-Writer: Hampton Fancher & David Webb Peoples
Lead Actors: Harrison Ford (Rick Deckard); Rutger Hauer (Roy Batty); Sean Young
(Rachael); Daryl Hannah (Pris); Brian James (Lean Kowalski); Joanna
Cassidy (Zhora); Joe Turkel (Dr. Eldon Tyrell); William Sanderson (J. F.
Sebastian); James Hong  (Hannibal Chew); Michael Emmet Walsh (Bryant)
Running Time: 1h57min.


Film Review



In the year 2019, in Los Angeles, California, a group of replicants - beings virtually identical to humans - are utilized as slaves in off-colonies, thanks to the Tyrell Corporation, who developed these creatures in the first place. With such a short lifespan, a specific squad of replicants by the name of "Nexus 6" rebels onto Earth to seek for their creators in hopes to reprogram their "expiration" dates - their day of death. Due to their illegal presence on this planet, Rick Deckard, a blade runner - special police officer ordered to kill any trespassing replicant upon detection - is pulled out of his retirement because he is, as a matter of fact, the only one capable of eliminating these creatures. He, therefore, conducts a series of investigations and tests in order to detect and "retire" - kill - all remaining replicants. In the meanwhile, Dr. Eldon Tyrell creates another experiment by the name of Rachael, who thinks she's a human being, when in reality, she's an improved replicant implanted with memories, which gives her the perspective of being real. Rick Deckard eventually falls in love with Rachael, making his job slightly more complex than it needs to be.





First off, although the first scene, which was when a replicant kills an interrogator, happened to be incomprehensible and quite confusing at first, the plot itself was clear for us due to the added information scrolling through the film to visually read before it started. In other words, it helped put us in context of the current situation and also aided in the clarification of what a "replicant" and what a "blade runner" is. It also left us, and certainly other viewers, with room for questions and assumptions about this movie. 

When it comes to the global setting of the film, it is represented through a gloomy and futuristic environment, specifically in the year 2019, in Los Angeles. We weren't able to physically perceive Los Angeles in this movie, although it clearly stated it in the beginning. As a matter of fact, most of the scenes were displayed in an overpopulated city, where it could easily be mistaken for New York City because of all those electronic billboards. It also displayed an area greatly influenced by the Asian culture, which may symbolize knowledge and advanced technology (e.g. the use of flying cars) in order to represent the future. The use of low-key lighting and electronic music throughout most of the film also helped set a futuristic mood, and a dark one as well, which portrayed the world in 2019 appropriately. 


While on the topic of non-diegetic sounds, the use of other types of music playing during the movie benefitted in creating a dramatic effect through certain scenes. For instance, in the scene were J. F. Sebastian invited Pris to enter his home, a short mischievous background music began to foreshadow a feeling that something harmful was about to happen later on in the film. There is also the scene where Rachael played smooth classical music on the piano to indirectly represent the innocence of her existence, where she couldn't distinguish the truth between being a replicant or a human being. This type of music provided us with a moment of nostalgia, contrasting the futuristic environment of the entire movie. When it comes to diegetic sounds, we disliked how some of the sound effects appeared fake (e.g. punches during fights, gun shots, etc.) because it downgraded the realism of the actions being committed.



The sets constructed for this film compensated for the lack of realism. As a matter of fact, we greatly appreciated the look of all the creators' homes, where it grew in size to represent each creators' involvement in the creation of replicants. For example, Cannibal's Chew's laboratory appeared bright-white, cold, and small, which represents his participation of creating the eyes of the replicants. J. F. Sebastian's home was a grand abandoned building, representing his unexplainable creativeness in designing these replicants. In addition, his house reflected a creepy wonderland of fabricated toys, which portrays his lonesome and childish personality. Lastly, Dr. Eldon Tyrell's heavenly mansion symbolized a replicant's mind, which seems so complex and demanded for great knowledge and effort. His home also displayed high-key lighting, which potentially gives us the perspective of him being the "hero" of the film, in which Dr. Eldon Tyrell was the only one capable of finding a solution to control these replicants.


Cannibal Chew's Laboratory

Dr. Eldon Tyrell's Home
J. F. Sebastian's Home









Although Dr. Eldon Tyrell played an important role in this movie, only a few characters remained engraved on our minds such as:


Rick Deckard
Rick Deckard, known as Harrison Ford, played this straightforward blade runner, with only one goal: to retire the remaining replicants. He has been dragged out of his own retirement by his former boss who convinced him that he was the only man for the job. In this film, this character doesn't show much emotions, even when expressing his feelings to Rachael, which could potentially explain why this interacting appears more awkward than romantic. This also made us question the truth of his existence because a lack of emotions is what differences human beings from replicants. 


When it comes to his acting skills, we believe that he played a decent role for a main character. Although he seemed quite neutral throughout the entire film, his physical features were appropriate for a policeman.


Rachael
Rachael, also known as Sean Young, played this innocent replicant, who strongly wished to be human, in our opinion. She seemed afraid of feeling and accepting her emotions because she's inexperienced with this aspect of life. In other words, we interpreted that her implanted memories don't have any data of how to act in certain ways (e.g. how to kiss, how to love, etc.). This actor therefore portrayed very well Rachael's torn decision about the truth of own existence.

J. F. Sebastian

J. F. Sebastian symbolized, in our opinion, the "odd" creator in this movie, which is shown through his lonesome and advanced decrepitude lifestyle, surrounded by a dark atmosphere. He appeared vulnerable when it comes to having company, which might explain why he decided to help out his fellow creations, Roy and Pris.


Roy Batty
Roy Batty, also known as Rutger Hauer, represented the superior replicant in this film, where he is the perfect one. He showed great knowledge, strength, and perseverance to maintain the lives of the replicants a part of Nexus 6. He also demonstrated loyalty towards all replicants by fighting for his life in order to find a solution to their main problem: to prolong their lives.


He is, in our opinion, the actor who played his role with such passion to a point where we could connect with him, specifically by sensing his fear of dying. As he mentioned in the movie, "to be a slave is the experience to live in fear", and Rutger greatly reflected this through the way he delivered his lines, especially the ones before his death.


Pris
Pris played a devious role by befriending J. F. Sebastian. She also has a romantic involvement with Roy, which explains why we perceived them as a power duo throughout the movie. They played J. F. quite well to have the ability to convince him to help them out, despite the fact that we all had a gut feeling of them stabbing him in the back afterwards.


When it comes to techniques used throughout this film, the director's use of dreams created a mysterious illusion for the viewers, which might have impact us in a good or bad manner (e.g. Rick Deckard's dream about a unicorn). As a matter of fact, this technique left us room for self-interpretation.


The director's use of special effects (e.g. explosions, camera angles, etc.) also left us questioning the meaning of multiple scenes. For instance, the camera angles and side-lighting displayed in the scene where Deckard is trying to find a way to escape from Roy demonstrated, in our opinion, a "danger" zone and a "safe" zone, where Deckard is torn between a life and death situation.


Lastly, despite this film's initial vagueness, the theme of "Blade Runner" was always very clear to us. In other words, we believe that the main theme displayed throughout this movie is based on the evolution of robots.


1371 words

Quality of the Film




Blade Runner is considered as one of the best fiction movies of all time. The movie contains many interesting themes like personhood and what makes a person human and addresses them very well, meaning that they were very well presented by having replicants. The actors were well chosen, Harrison Ford who played Deckard acted as a emotionless human which kind of made us doubt whether he was a replicant or not. And Sean Young who played Rachael showed multiple emotions very well throughout the movie. However, this movie had many weaknesses. The story was over detailed, meaning that there was too much to pay attention too. We had to pay careful attention to every detail because we could lose the understanding of a scene that would explain to us another and it would confuse us very easily. Secondly, there was a lot of background information missing, for example Deckard. It would have been great if they would’ve put more deepness into his past to see why he was the way he was and what made him be a blade runner to make us understand a bit more his character and personality in the present. 



Course Connections



Blade Runner emphasizes the idea that replicants are not considered as real humans. We had a feeling that by exterminating all the replicants from the Earth, they had no rights. In other words, they are not granted personhood. At the beginning of the movie, Rick Deckard, said that no matter what, replicants had to be killed. It didn't even matter if they had done nothing bad. Replicants were a threat to humanity and Rick Deckard had the job to kill them all. Bryant, Rick Deckard's boss, didn't show a lot of respect for these AI, he was even calling them "skin-jobs", which shows how much he hated them. They had no value and they were basically nothing for him. We believe that replicants were not granted personhood and because of that, they were portrayed as slaves. Humans could do whatever they wanted with replicants. There is also another important thing: they don't have "real" memories. Their memories are implants. As a matter of fact, Rachael's memories were not hers, they were Dr. Eldon Tyrol's niece's memories. Our memories are extremely important because it makes us remember our past. when things are granted personhood, it is because they are seen as sentient beings with a conscious. Our memories allow us to be sentient and remember things that we experienced. Replicants had memories to make them think that they were human beings, when in reality, it wasn't their own memories. It was simply another way to control them.



Memory is a concept that is present throughout the movie. A philosopher Locke, had this idea about our memories and that in a way, it makes us who we are since we can recall many events of our life. It’s the narrative part of ourselves and without memories; we wouldn’t be who we are today. In Blade Runner, like we said before, Racheal has implants memories. It’s not her memories but someone else so it makes her believe that she is human because she can recall many memories that happened to her throughout her life. After she learned that it wasn’t her memories, it made her doubt herself because she doesn’t know who she is anymore, is she a replicant or a human?  Our memories are necessary for our personal identity, according to Locke. Who are we without our memories? If we would learn that our memories would be implanted, it would change our perceptions. We wouldn’t be the same person anymore. It would make us question everything that we know or that we had experienced.


Another important concept is one of Descartes' quote, which is: "I am thinking so therefore I am". The audience started to discover that J. F. Sebastian thought that his replicants were his own toys, his possessions. He didn't value much about replicants, despite the fact that he helped create them. Pris is the one who stated: "I am thinking so therefore I am". In "Blade Runner", replicants are viewed as slaves to their creators. In other words, they belong to their masters, which explains why replicants felt obliged to obey them. If they are thinking, they are having some intellectual thoughts. They are more than just replicants. Thinking is an individual essential "self". We certainly know ourselves that we are always thinking.


Questions


-       Is Deckard a replicant?

-       Should a replicant be qualified to obtain personhood? Why?


-       How would you react if you found out that your memories of childhood were fake? Why?

Elaboration of Themes and Contents



Blade Runner Insight. Chapman, Murray. What is the signification of the unicorn? WEB. 1998. http://www.br-insight.com/significance-of-the-unicorn. Accessed on November 5, 2016.



We thought that one of the important concepts of the film was the unicorn. It was a hard concept to get but it was also super interesting and an important part of the movie. It talks about how Rachael is the representation of the unicorn, how unicorns are fascinating creatures and how Racheal is a rare replicant. The fact that Rachael was the only replicant that was able to show emotions made her very special and unique like a unicorn. 


Den of Geek!. Lambie, Ryan. How Ridley Scott’s Recent Films Link to Blade Runner. WEB. December 16th, 2014. http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/ridley-scott/242170/how-ridley-scotts-recent-films-link-to-blade-runner (Consulted on November 19th, 2016)



This article links many of Ridley Scott’s to Blade Runner. He has produced many many movies in which futuristic and existential themes were expressed in his movies. And helps us understand the themes showed in Blade Runner. 

Works Cited


"Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Trailer." YouTube, uploaded by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, 6 September 2012, https;//www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhJ7Mf2Oxs

"Blade Runner." IMDb. 1990, http;//www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658?ref_=rvi_tt. Accessed on October 22 2016.

Images:

Unknown Author. "Rick Deckard." The Quiet Front, 2013, http://www.thequietfront.com/home/2013/4/17/rick-deckard. Accessed on November 19 2016.

Unknown Author. "Blade Runner Three Decades Later: How a Masterpiece of Production Design Left Its Mark on Los Angeles (and Vice Versa)." Under the Hollywood Sign, 2010, https://underthehollywoodsign.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/blade_runner1.jpg. Accessed on November 19 2016.

Unknown Author. BladeZone: The Online Blade Runner Fan Club, 2001, http://media.bladezone.com/contents/film/production/Linda-DeScenna/chew_lab.jpg. Accessed on November 19 2016.

Peter Kenny. Under Another Sun, 2015, http://anothersun.blogspot.ca/2015/04/a-perfect-day-in-brighton.html. Accessed on November 19 2016

Unknown Author. "Mid-Week Match-Up: A Blade Runner-Inspired Room." Mirror 80, 2011, http://www.mirror80.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/BR-4.jpg. Accessed on November 19 2016

Warner Bros. ET, 2013, http://www.etonline.com/media/photo/2013/08/24032005/640_Sean_Young_Harrison_For.jpg. Accessed on November 20 2016

Warner Bros. Pyxzur, 1982, http://pyxurz.blogspot.ca/2011/10/blade-runner-page-3-of-6.html. Accessed on November 20 2016

Warner Bros. Star 2, 2016, http://www.star2.com/living/viewpoints/2016/02/21/booked-out-blade-runner-fan-finally-braves-the-philip-k-dick-book/. Accessed on November 20 2016

Unknown Author. Pinterest, Publication Date Unknown, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/9992430393797771/. Accessed on November 5 2016.

Unknown Author. SciFi Empire, Publication Date Unknown, http://scifiempire.net/wordpress/top-ten-the-fifth-element/blade-runner/. Accessed on November 5, 2016

Unknown Author. Giphy, Publication Date Unknown, http://gph.is/29hguBk. Accessed on November 19, 2016. 

Unknown Author. Giphy, Publication Date Unknown, http://giphy.com/gifs/blade-runner-iUws0NJxrUwko. Accessed on November 19, 2016