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The generally favorable movie “Autómata” is a very good example how with a lower budget one can make a pretty nice film about the essence and the future of the human kind…
Life’s goal is not to survive and exist at any cost. It is to live for the time being and to produce a trace behind it which will be in the future.
Maybe to some of its viewers this movie will seem like a combination of good ideas taken from various books and older movies, but to me it FEELS like a very good sci-fi post apocalyptic message to us. Not only because it is shot in my country, Bulgaria, but also, because the plot is weaved smartly and leads to a vast net of interconnected ideas played beautifully by a very good cast of actors.
But more important is that, as we watch the struggle of the main character Jacq Vaucan, we couldn’t help, but feel empathy towards the robots which are presented rather weak and helpless. The impression is that we as a modern society do not give enough support to the weaker members of our society – be they poor or old, or crippled or even female. This is a very complex problem to me at least – the morality of our modern sophisticated 21 century life is no more different than what we can read in many books about the ways of life at earlier stages of our development as a society. What I mean is that Automata is aimed directly at our own behavior problems which are caused by the inexplicable lack of care for every living thing. Yes, many of us are trying to save and help others and the planet as a living organism, but overall we are losing the battle with our rooted egotism.
It is very important that we can see how a person can change for the better – even when under enormous pressure (family, work, health problems, etc). I completely understand that our mortal nature is a very good reason to be selfish and to strive for personal success harder than it is necessary. But it is our moral obligation to see that we cannot continue to live the way we are used to. As a species the human kind is destined to transform. And this change might not happen in a peaceful way. And it may not happen for the better. The universe is truly limitless and we can achieve immortality beyond the survival instinct. Replication is not the best process I think. More important is to innovate through work and patience. The time is our main limit, but we have to overcome the other real obstacle – our internal egotism. This is the main lesson from the beautiful movie Automata.
Yes, beautiful – because I like very much the aesthetics of the design and musical ideas behind it. Just look at the simplicity and functionality of the robots. And yet they have specific human features which make them very sympathetic. Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith and Robert Forster show us very distinctive and weary acting which is nice for such a sci-fi. The “sandy” desert landscape and the “rainy” futuristic city are perfect environment for the ambient music which we enjoy throughout the movie.
After all the words here I recommend that you enjoy this movie and contemplate after that on your own actions – are you affecting the society and the world the way you should be, or the way you want to?