Automata

2014 "Your time is coming to an end – Ours is now beginning"
6| 1h50m| R| en| More Info
Released: 10 October 2014 Released
Producted By: Green Moon Productions
Country: Spain
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.automata-movie.com/
Synopsis

Jacq Vaucan, an insurance agent of ROC robotics corporation, routinely investigates the case of manipulating a robot. What he discovers will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.

... View More
Stream Online

Stream with Prime Video

Director

Producted By

Green Moon Productions

Trailers & Images

Reviews

shusei I noticed that many reviewers associated this film with "Blade Runner" and "I,Robot". Some similarity in the image of the future and of the robots really exists here. But in fact it's not important at all for this film. The concept and the story of this film are far original than the visual effects. The title "Automata" means mechanical dolls mainly made for fun, to entertain the privileged in Europe when democratic system was unimaginable. "Robot" is neologism made by the Czech writer Karel Capek in his play "R.U.R."'(1920), where artificial human-like machines are use all over the world as universal and cheap labor forces. In the play (and in all the films with "robots" borrowing its concept from Capek's play) "robots" are like slaves, tend to overthrow the human control,want to be free, so their violence against human makes a dramatic turning point in those films. By removing all "scientific" details, their plot will not so much different from that of Eisenstein's "Strike" (or Griffith's "The Birth of Nation" if seen from "masters' point of view"). In "Automata" the plot develops in other context; those "automata" don't look like slaves. They rather look like products of awkward and unsuccessful human attempt to make "human-like" machines, as automata before 20-th century. They are not revolutionaries, they have no reason for that, if humans don't interfere their "natural" evolution. They can live without destroying the decaying city where Jacq Vaucan and other characters must live unwillingly to avoid radiation. Violence is made by humans. Many audience maybe don't have sympathy for Jacq who shows compassion for Cleo, but probably have more sympathy for Cleo.Designs of "automata" are (most likely, intentionally) old-fashioned, awkward but somehow reminding hand-maid dolls. Human hands made them with soul, so they received it from human and began to live a real life. Have you ever seen any films with similar concept of "automata". I have. It's "Ghost in the Shell 2" by Oshii Mamoru. While Oshii's film was still partly following plot of a detective hunting "rebel" androids like "Blade Runner", this film is almost completely free from human-centered plot. The last shot of sea is, of course, not real. It's a metaphor of LIFE.
ajping This is a very well-put together movie despite being somewhat low budget. Acting is solid and the actors are well-cast. The only problem is that we've kind of seen this story before, which makes it a bit predictable. The pacing is also a bit slow, which is fine, actually, but this is kind of a mystery/thriller and it doesn't pack quite enough energy as it could. Very much worth watching though.
brppc There is nothing about this film that is worth watching. It starts out somewhat promising, but simply doesn't deliver any sort of satisfying result. The acting feels forced, and the story bogs down in the middle and frustratingly so. Just when things do pick up and there is a promising ending to the film, it brings in several aspects of the story that simply do not tie together. I would not have bothered with rating this film, but I decided to watch it based on the high review number, and I can't let it go.
NateWatchesCoolMovies Gabe Ibáñez's Automata had the misfortune of being released in the shadow of another film concerning robotics and artificial intelligence, Ex Machina. It's hard to compete with the kind of hype that film generated back in 2015, and as such it kind of slipped through the cracks. It's a shame because there's much about that's striking, stylized and fascinating, despite being a bit too elaborate for it's own good. Drenched in a rainy neon Blade Runner atmosphere, it follows a bleak story involving insurance investigator Jacq Vaucan (a bald, somber Antonio Banderas) as he navigates a broken world ravaged by solar storms that have whittled down the human populace to around twenty million. Robots have been employed to rebuild the dying infrastructure, and Jacq keeps tabs in case any of them violate their primary directive, under the stewardship of his boss (Robert Forster). When rogue police officer Wallace (Dylan McDermott is dynamite) shoots a robot he claims was trying to alter itself, Jacq surmises that there's a 'clocksmith' out there trying to give them minds of their own. It's all very vague and we never really have anything more than illusory whispers or half explained concepts to go on, but these matters find him and the company's nasty head of security (Tim McInnerney) venturing far out into the desert where a faction of robots, led by Javier Bardem no less, have grossly deviated their protocol and are evolving into… something else. Banders's once wife Melanie Griffith does double duties as a creepy liaison in their case and the voice of a sympathetic sex slave- bot who plays a key role. I'm not entirely sure what the story arc is supposed to be, as it's often muddled and dense, but it seems confident that it has one, and isn't just flying blind into Euro experimental abstract mode as some scenes suggest. It has a point to make, it's just wrapped that up in enigmatic fashion and cloaked any sense of linear exposition in blankets of atmospheric ambient sound, deliberately indistinct story beats and strangeness. I'm okay with that to an extant, as there's plenty to enjoy visually, especially with the robots and their design, but many won't be and will want more than just machine dreams without a manual to guide them. I for one enjoyed the memorable image of bald, parka clad Banderas hunting primordial androids in a washed out, used up wasteland. All that's missing is a score by Vangelis or Tangerine Dream.