It can be difficult at times to say what we think about a film because our response to it is so…complicated.
Take Archive for example: a stunningly beautiful and incredibly well-made film which is also a highly intelligent work of science fiction.
And yet…
George Almore is a scientist working on a top secret project in a remote secret laboratory. But what his corporate masters do not realize is that his robotic research is part of his plan to bring his wife back from the dead.
Not literally. This isn’t that kind of movie.
Instead, her consciousness has been downloaded in Analog form into one of the Archive corporation’s storage systems.
However, as it is analog, the imprint will eventually fade and come to an end.
So he plans to create a robot body to download her into, so he can have her back permanently.
But what he’s doing is against the law. And breaks his contract.
Which means he’s in a lot of trouble.
There is so much this film gets right: the incredible secret facility on a cliff; the increasingly sophisticated robots he’s built, the smartly drawn characters (particularly the robot, J2) and the complex story behind George’s actions.
And it’s all building towards a beautiful climax when…
It all goes wrong.
We end up with the hoariest of cliches, an ending which is the bane of Indie SF and Fantasy films and has been for a very long time. It invalidates nearly everything which came before it.
Frustrating.
I know, there are those who will tell you that the movie provides plenty of hints about what is going on and it is all tied in to the story.
True.
But it is still aggravating.
I am intrigued, however, by the resemblance between the fading consciousness of the Archive and the similar situation in Phillip K. Dick’s Vallis (or John Carpenter’s borrowing of it in Dark Star which may be more familiar to many of you), where the dead are frozen cryogenically and implants in the brain allow this sort of communication. At least, for a while until the brain tissue degrades. That actually makes more sense, and makes sense of the notion that opening this unit could be punished as grave robbery. Is this what was originally intended when they developed this one, before it was ultimately decreed too gruesome? Or is that what’s actually in the Archive and the script never lets on?
I don’t know. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. But you can play a record a lot of times before it wears out.
I am, however, reasonably certain that the resemblance to a certain classic short story is not coincidence. It’s far too well known. And everyone steals from that one.
As I said before, I’m not sure what I think about this one. It’s gorgeous, intelligent and well-made, one of the best of the many films inspired by Ex Machina.
It’s just frustrating, that’s all.
rivets on the poster 