麻豆传媒

Kogonada

Distribution pending

MANY great works of art have depicted complex relationships between humans and androids, and how their interactions could shake up how we see society and its constructs. Take Steven Spielberg鈥檚 movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Isaac Asimov鈥檚 seminal novel I, Robot or even David Cage鈥檚 recent video game Detroit: Become Human. Now there is After Yang, from director Kogonada.

The movie, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month, is based on Alexander Weinstein鈥檚 short story Saying Goodbye to Yang. It follows tea seller Jake (Colin Farrell) and his wife Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith), who have bought an android named Yang (Justin H. Min) for their adopted daughter Mika (newcomer Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja).

Their hope is that Yang, who resembles a teenager, will help Mika reconnect with her roots in China. After a few days, the android stops working and Jake must find a way to reactivate him. Yang, however, is a refurbished 鈥渢echnosapien鈥�, so the seller can only offer Jake a discount on his next purchase or to destroy Yang for a fee.

Mika has already developed a connection with the android and Jake doesn鈥檛 want to disappoint her. Through different repair attempts and an encounter with a technosapiens museum curator, Cleo (Sarita Choudhury), Jake delves into his own past as well as Yang鈥檚. In the process, he starts to question the way he sees organic and synthetic life, gradually discovering that Yang is capable, like 鈥渞eal鈥� humans, of loving, remembering and appreciating the taste of a good cup of tea.

Thanks to the elegant production design, the future depicted by Kogonada is a visual feast, loosely echoing the world evoked in Spike Jonze鈥檚 Her. Here, advanced technology and environmental awareness seem to coexist within a heavily urbanised, multicultural society. It is a place where androids and humans can live together peacefully, or at least tolerate each other鈥檚 presence.

Throughout the film, Kogonada builds a strong bond between the family and Yang. Yes, Yang is a machine programmed to feel and express emotions, but what makes him human (or at least 鈥渙rganic鈥�) are his memories, which let him develop an identity and learn from other people鈥檚 emotions and experiences.

Yang鈥檚 life with Jake鈥檚 family is meaningful: his presence and (spoiler alert) subsequent demise force the family to go through an unexpected crisis, but also help them heal deeper wounds, with Jake and Kyra coming to realise that they are the only ones who can really be in charge of Mika鈥檚 future and how she reconnects to her Chinese roots.

The cast 鈥� Farrell and Turner-Smith, in particular 鈥� deliver understated performances, which suit the intimate atmosphere of this tale. Skilfully combining elements of family drama and science fiction with elegant tributes to Japanese director Yasujir艑 Ozu, Kogonada creates a compelling, quasi-philosophical piece about the mystery of the soul. The movie could have ended before the final exchange between Jake and Mika, but never mind, it鈥檚 still enchanting.

If you are hungry for similar fare, try Kazuo Ishiguro鈥檚 recent novel Klara and the Sun, a darker world where children are genetically engineered to achieve academically and are homeschooled by solar-powered AIs.