Note: Please see this film in IMAX. Even though it wasn't shot in IMAX, Pfister ( a big proponent of film) shot the film on regular 35 mm film stock (not digitally) and used a photochemical process to finish the film rather than use a digital intermediary. It has a crystal clean picture that is better than any other presentation out there. With so few films out there being in IMAX (non 3-D) presentations this film really shows the superior quality of using film.
INTRODUCTION
Transcendence is the directorial debut of Academy Award wining "Cinematographer Supreme" Wally Pfister (formally of "Team Nolan"). Pfister's freshman film is a Sci-Fi thriller that attempts to answer very complex and lofty questions about the existence of god, the origin of "humanity, the price of radical extremes without compromise, the effect of grief, and the overall reliance on technology as a constant in our lives. This is an ambitious film in that attempt, unfortunately, it doesn't quite succeed. The film often vacillates between being too subtle in its exploration of the aforementioned themes, or to heavy handed. Many of the aspects that were subtle, I wanted them to be more pronounced and vice versa. The film was also bogged down by pacing issues and problematic narrative structure that can be explained by the inexperience of first time writer Jack Paglen. However, Pfister's direction and Jess Hall's cinematography (I assume with Pfister's input) captivated me enough to get me invested in the film. I was later pleasantly surprised to find just how much this film made me think about aforementioned analytical and metaphysical questions (which will be the focus of my review). To that end, the film was a success (even if it didn't answer a lot of those questions).
PLOT
A team of scientists ( Depp, Hall, Bettany, and Freeman) whom are working on developing the first self aware artificial intelligence are systematically attacked by a group of radical anti-tech extremist known as R.I. F.T. (Revolutionary Independence from Technology). In the wake of this attack Dr. William Caster (Depp) is gravely injured. To "save" him, Dr. Evelyn Caster (Hall) his partner and wife uploads his consciousness into a sophisticated computer and then the net. The results are neither what was desired or expected.
THEMES (Spoilers ahead)
Grief
"Shut it down? It's him, it's WILL!"- Evelyn
One of the more subtle aspects of the film deals with how grief motivates actions. The film excellently portrays the ways in which our selfish desire to covet both relationships and people can lead to very dark and questionable behavior. As William Caster's body begins to deteriorate from the attack, Evelyn, feeling robbed of her life with her husband, decides to map his brain and speech patterns, along with all of his memories into a computer program. When looking at this behavior through the lens of Kubler-Ross' stages of grief, Evelyn initially uses the process of copying and uploading Will's consciousness as mechanism for catharsis, and acceptance of his death. Acceptance is almost reached until Will 2.0 becomes self aware. When that happens, Evelyn reverts back to the stage of denial; wanting, hoping, wishing, that it was really the man she knew. As the film progresses and the stakes of the film slowly rise (usually through Will 2.0 rationally and calculably understanding of human action,) Evelyn finally learns how to let go. She no longer needs Will 2.0 to be a coping strategy; she is finally able to move on. Rebecca Hall plays this complexity with such earnestness (that mainly resonates through her eyes) that I wish these moments were a bit more blatant so we could possibly get a commentary on the struggles with death and the lengths to which some will go to cheat it.
Humanity
"My wife she always wants to change the world; I just want to understand it."- Will
One of the most visible themes in the film is the question of humanity. What makes us human? What is the value of human life? These are questions that many philosophers have attempted to answer especially contemporary philosophers The film perfectly portrays, not only the fear and skepticism of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), but a reexamination of what is human. In the film, it is postulated (by Will Castor) that when A.I. reaches a singularity (being self aware) it is a point of transcendence. Yet, the rest of the film seems to challenge that very notion.
After becoming self aware, Will 2.0 is still operating and thinking like a computer: objectively, rationally; desiring more knowledge, and (literally) more power. This leads him to want to "help" the human race by "fixing" it. He starts by curing, enhancing and networking many of his employees and volunteers in a small town; all in the name of perfection. Not only is this reminiscent of the Eugenics movement (which was championed by Hitler and the Nazis), it is the removal of agency and free will; aspects that are quintessentially identified as human. Thus, through these actions, Will 2.0 has demonstrated that he has NOT transcended.
Will 2.0's transcendence happens toward the end of the film when he realizes that the key to humanity is not just the ability to have agency and free will, but by the limits that we set for ourselves both in terms of morality and our understanding of mortality. When Will 2.0 makes the conscious decision to upload the virus into himself and stops his "human cleansing" through technology (saving life by ending his own) he understands the importance of limits.
Life has value because it ends. If we didn't have that limit, the importance of behaviors and relationships would drastically decrease. There is no value in eternity because the wealth of experiences of endless lifetimes will not be fully appreciated. There is no threat to it, no end, therefore, no satisfaction... in anything. Without limits, we remain unfulfilled, which historically can that can breed violence and death. Will 2.0 understands this in his final moments. His decision to chose life not only shows his compassion, but is evidence of his transcendence.
Social and Political Relevance
social movements
The conflict between the R.I.F.T extremists and the scientists (being the acolytes of technology) in the film is an allegorical parallel of the Anti-Abortion and Pro-choice movements. R.I.F.T. uses extreme actions including: bombing and poisoning research tech facilities as well as murdering leading expert that are personally attempting to reach the singularity. This parallels the actions of the anti-abortionist, whom have bombed clinics that provide abortions, and shot (and killed) doctors that perform the procedure(s).
Another similarity is both R.I.F.T. and anti-abortionists devotion to extreme points of view. Anti-abortionist's support of right to life is often applied to the fetus, not the mother; without consideration to the quality of life that child might have once born. The focus is on birth, not child care. Much of this rhetoric is under the guise of valuing the child; that the child's life has more value because of its potential. Likewise, R.I.F.T. supports the rejection of technology to the point where they are willing to dismantle the world's technological system (dissolve the internet) in order to stop Will 2.0. regardless of the social, economic, cultural, political, and historical impacts and ramifications such an action would cause.
reliance on tech
Another socio-political theme in the film is our reliance on technology as an integral part of our lives. Everything from stocks to traffic lights are controlled by some type of satellite controlled networked computer system. It is an important tool and one that regulates life of this planet. The internet especially has become so vital to our way of life that it is beginning to alter the way that we think. and interact we engage with others more easily (meaning filtered) through screens. The movie gives us a glimpse into a drastically different world after the internet is shut down. Pfister is able to encapsulate this in a single image in the beginning of the film as a person uses a keyboard to prop open a door. While this image loses its power a little bit when it is reused at the end of the film, Pfister teases the very ways we would have to retrain ourselves to this offline world. In a shot of a simple shop widow with a list of traded goods, Pfister suggests that without the internet, our current form of Capitalism is would utterly fail. A Barter system would return; therefore, in a Marxian sense, use value, the value of the worker would also return. Perhaps Pfister is saying, like Marx, that after technology the alienation of the worker would cease, leading to egalitarian socialism (or it could be me reading into it :) ).
CONCLUDING REMARKS
This is a beautifully shot, technically crafted film. Wally Pfister can and should be proud of his freshman film.
Pfister shows all of the signs of becoming a great director. He has the critical eye and the ability to frame a shot. He has the ability to work with high profile and diverse actors, and film action. He knows how to use space to create drama, and let scenes work organically. This film may be rough around the edges (primarily due to the writing requiring a lot of audience participation and buy in) but it is a good first step to what will be a long and lustrous career for Wally Pfister.
