Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by Steven Spielberg
Screen Story Ian Watson
Short story by Brian Aldiss "Supertoys Last All Summer Long."

Haley Joel Osment .... David Swinton
Jude Law .... Gigolo Joe
Frances O'Connor .... Monica Swinton
Sam Robards .... Henry Swinton
Jake Thomas .... Martin Swinton
Brendan Gleeson .... Lord Johnson-Johnson
William Hurt .... Professor Hobby
Jack Angel .... Teddy (voice)
Keith Campbell .... Road Warrior
Kelly Felix .... Butler Mecca
John Harmon .... Medic Mecca
Ben Kingsley .... Narrator
Paul Isaac Martin .... Crash Test Dummy
Miguel Pérez .... A.R.T Repairman

Produced by Bonnie Curtis (producer), Jan Harlan (executive producer), Kathleen Kennedy (producer), Walter F. Parkes (executive producer), Steven Spielberg (producer)
Original music by John Williams
Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski
Film Editing by Michael Kahn

PG-13 - for some sexual content and violent images

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STUDIO SYNOPSIS:
It is a time when natural resources are limited and technology is advancing at an astronomical pace. Where you live is monitored; what you eat is engineered; and the person serving you is not a person at all. It's artificial. Gardening, housekeeping, companionship -- there is a robot for every need. Except love.

Emotion is the last, controversial frontier in robot evolution. Robots are seen as sophisticated appliances; they're not supposed to have feelings. But with so many parents not yet approved to have children, the possibilities abound.

And Cybertronics Manufacturing has created the solution.

His name is David (HALEY JOEL OSMENT).

A robotic boy, the first programmed to love, David is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee (SAM ROBARDS) and his wife (FRANCES O'CONNOR), whose own terminally ill child has been cryogenically frozen until a cure can be found. Though he gradually becomes their child, with all the love and stewardship that entails, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David.

Without final acceptance by humans or machines, and armed only with Teddy, his supertoy teddy bear and protector, David embarks on a journey to discover where he truly belongs, uncovering a world in which the line between robot and machine is both terrifyingly vast and profoundly thin.
© 2001 Warner Bros.

The truth this film proclaims is NOT on the surface:
Ultimately AI isNOT about:
--the future
--artificial intelligence.
--our love-hate relationship with machines
--the probability of intelligent robots, etc., etc.

Instead, the film IS about:
--real human limitations
--dehumanization
--the meaning of being human
--the power of unconditional love

H.G. Wells wrote "War of the Worlds" in 1898 to help the British understand what it is like to have your country invaded by an alien nation. The United Kingdom was invading and colonizing other countries. Through the use of Science Fiction, Wells became the moral voice of opposition to the actions of his country.

The popular Star Trek series, although set in the future and in far off galaxies, is really addressing current situations and conflicts.

Science Fiction has amazing power because it can address current realities with the necessary distance and detachment to convey its moral truth.

In the grand tradition of this genre, AI addresses current issues. The robots (Mechas) represent those we have been dehumanized for reasons of ethnicity, jealousy, and exploitation. Additionally, the robots represent the people we dispose of when they no longer have perceived usefulness and desirability. It is about the tragedy of disposable relationships, one-night stands, family breakdown, the slave trade and human exploitation. It is about the necessity of hope, faith and love, without which there is no survival.

AI is about the essence of becoming fully human.

ACCEPTING
The process of accepting David into the family is intriguing to watch. Little David has our hearts despite our doubts and misgivings.

WE LIVE WITHIN STORY.
The mother reads the story of Pinocchio. Little David learns how the Blue Fairy turns the puppet into a real living boy. (The bedroom is blue -a similar blue scene will be used at the end of the film with the undersea Blue Fairy.)

We live in an information age. But Spielberg reminds us that facts and figures do not contain the essence of life. Story does. Truth is contained in our Fairy Tales and we live within our stories.

(Interesting link: Robert Benigni Draws Parallels Between Bible and Pinocchio)

DEHUMANIZATION
The forest where David is left is littered with disposed robots. They are symbolic of the vast numbers of people that we have disposed of in our culture through racism, war, holocaust, abortion, infanticide, abandonment, family breakup, neglect, anger, selfishness -the list goes on and on.

THE EXPLOITATIVE PROPHET OF VIOLENCE.
The crowd loves to see the robots killed by burning acid, fire and propellers. They yell for more... until little David is placed before them as a spotless little lamb for slaughter. The crowds finally see a victim as a full human being and are repulsed. They are suddenly sickened. David becomes the near-sacrifice that breaks the cycle of violence. The words of Jesus are quoted, "Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone." The attention of the crowd is turned from the victims to the attackers. Justice is served.

VIOLENCE IS CONQUERED BY SACRIFICIAL LOVE.
The crowd loves to see the robots killed by burning acid, fire and propellors. They yell for more... until little David is placed before them as a spotless little lamb for slaughter. The crowds finally see a victim as a full human being and is repulsed. They are suddenly sickened. David becomes the near-sacrifice that breaks the cycle of violence. The words of Jesus are quoted, "Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone." The attention of the crowd is turned from the victims to the attackers. Justice is served.

David who represented the first Adam, now represents the second Adam.

SPIRITUAL QUEST
There is a very interesting connection to the Virgin Mary and the cross of Jesus. On their search for the Blue Fairy they pass by "Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart" with a huge blue neon sign of Mary and the cross. "Is this the Blue Fairy?" David asks. And thus, Spielberg connects the journey for the Blue Fairy with the profound quest of Faith itself. The statue's name is also a reflection of David, for though he may not have a physical human heart, the love in his heart is truly immaculate.

Joe's commentary on human spirituality in this scene is significant. Referring to the humans who reverence the Virgin Mary, he states, "The ones who made us are always looking for the one who made them.''

Joe's remark ties back to the beginning of the film when Professor Hobby set the tone by saying, "Didn't God create Adam to love him?"

Joe's commentary also foreshadows the ending, when the advanced Mechas search for the memory of their maker.

Spielberg's film is not only a search for the meaning of true humanity, but also it is a search for God.

Spielberg connects David to the first human, Adam, in the opening scene. David is Spielberg's way of returning to the very essence and purpose of humanity (to love God). The captivity of the Mechas in the Flesh Fair speaks to the ancient slavery of the Jews in Egypt and to the more recent Holocaust. David is the "little child (that) shall lead them." Additionally, Joe (or Joseph) is a dancer (walker) on water (a messiah type). He serves as a Joseph/Moses character. He leads David into Rouge City (Joseph -into Egypt) and brings David out of Rouge City (Moses -out of Egypt). Manhattan is the apocalyptic end of the world where the "lions weep". David is the lion of Judah in scriptures. Israel means "One who struggles with God" (Jacob's fight with Yahweh). Similarly, David struggles for the love of his mother. The biblical connections are endless. Spielberg's rich Jewish heritage (seasoned with Christian images) is evident throughout the entire film. I counted 43 biblical connection during my second viewing of the film.

COMBINING FACTS AND FAIRY TALE
Spielberg reminds us, whenever he can, of the importance of story over dictionary type facts as a guide in life. Joe takes David to see the Dr. Know who combines "Flat Facts" within "Fairy Tales" to reveal truth and direction in life.

Spielberg is right to remind us that Story is primary. Facts are not. Many believe that the stories in the Bible are sort of a sugar coating for morals and Godly standards. This is not true. In the Bible, as with Spielberg, story is primary. Humans live within story, not flat facts.