Robots do not exist, at least not the way we imagine them: intelligent, extremely capable, anthropomorphic, human to the touch, in interactive lines of force terribly dominant yet entirely harmless. Or vice versa: dangerous, invincible, superhumanly competent and unwavering. Since they don’t exist the way we imagine them, robots are condemned to the SF genre, a genre that even without robots is struggling to be understood seriously and accepted. In films, robots are almost as a rule just robots. A tool for entertainment, whether mechanically carnal (Cherry 2000), frighteningly bloodthirsty (Terminator), comical (Marvin from Hitchhiker’s Guide) or quasi-reflexive (David, Teddy… whomechanicalever from AI). Because we are living in an age of global spectacles, the need for fun can only be greater, which means that the number of film robots is bound to rise. What we did recently though learn from the entertainment industry is that the best results are achieved through recycling. Recycling, whether overt, like the remake, or the recording of new sequels of the same trampled stories, or covertly, by repacking, it behaves in the synapses like some light beverage in the mouth – wishy-washy, you might say. For this vapid feeling to come with some new future pointless filmic robotic escapades the sooner, the seventh art programme of this year’s Device_art is conceived dually. One the one hand nectar, on the other candy floss.
SMART
• Alien, Ridley Scott (1979)
• Blade Runner, Ridley Scott (1982)
• Forbidden Planet, Fred M. Wilcox (1956)
• Ghost in the Shell, Mamoru Oshii (1995)
• Metropolis, Fritz Lang (1927)
• The Day The Earth Stood Still, Robert Wise (1951)
• THX 1138, George Lucas (1971)
SMART FUN
• A.I., Steven Spielberg (2001)
• Futurama: Bender’s Big Score (2007)
• I, Robot, Alex Proyas (2004)
• Sleeper, Woody Allen (1973)
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, George Lucas (1977)
• Stepford Wives, Bryan Forbes (1975)
• Terminator, James Cameron (1984)
• The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming (1939)
• WALL-E, Andrew Stanton (2008)
• Westworld, Michael Crichton (1976)
FUN
• Batteries Not Included, Matthew Robbins (1987)
• Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Peter Hewitt (1991)
• Cherry 2000, Steve De Jarnatt (1987)
• D.A.R.Y.L., Simon Wincer (1985)
• Demon Seed, Donald Cammell (1977)
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Takao Okawara (1993)
• Hardware, Richard Stanley (1990)
• Heartbeeps, Allan Arkush (1981)
• Huey, Luey and Duey − Silent Running, Douglas Trumbull (1971)
• Message from Space, Kinji Fukasaku (1978)
• Runaway, Michael Crichton (1984)
• Saturn 3, Stanley Donen (1980)
• Short Circuit, John Badham (1986)
