(Above: Dan Stevens & Maren Eggert)
All in all, this is a movie well worth watching, and we should be thankful for the European Film Festival’s efforts in bringing excellent examples of cinematic art to South Africa and making them available to all movie buffs. (Review by Barry Meehan)
The European Film Festival in South Africa goes hybrid for its 9th edition between October 13 and 23, 2022.
Director: Maria Schrader
Country Of Origin: Germany
Language:
German, With English Subtitles
Leads: Maren Eggert, Dan Stevens
I’m Your Man could almost be a classic “girl meets
boy etc etc” romantic comedy scenario with a twist, but this movie is so much
more than that. Alma (Maren Eggert) plays a scientist working with a dedicated
team to research cuneiform Sumerian text, especially in relation to its poetry
as a reflection on society in 2700 BC. In order to fund the project, she signs
up to participate in a rather extraordinary experiment which will partner her
with an AI humanoid robot for three weeks.
The robot (Tom) has been tailor-made according to her character and her needs, complete with 17 million “mind files” to enable him to respond to any situation, question or conversation. He has essentially been created to make her happy, which she certainly needs. Alma is somewhat sceptical at first, when she meets the very suave Tom in a dance club, then becomes even more so when a glitch in the system causes him to stutter and come to a halt mid-sentence.
Tom is repaired quickly and comes to live with her the following day, and the questions begin:
• What do humans genuinely need/want
from relationships
• Should humanoid
robots with artificial intelligence have the same basic rights as their human
partners
• Do humanoid robots
develop feelings, or are they only capable of showing programmed emotions
• Should humans treat
humanoids differently from the way they treat other humans
• Is there a gulf
between humans and humanoids that is just too wide to be ignored
I’m Your Man
is a remarkably witty but thought-provoking film with excellent performances
from the two leads – Maren Eggert (Alma) and Dan Stevens (Tom). Eggert is
obviously a truly professional movie actor; there are many wonderful quiet
moments when no dialogue is needed as we can see exactly what she is thinking. A
consummate performance.
Dan Stevens is also superb as humanoid Tom, always just that one small step away from a true human in reactions and mannerisms. Direction by Maria Schrader is tight and expertly controlled. I’m Your Man won four top prizes at the 2021 German Film Awards and took a Silver Bear Award at the Berlinale. It was Germany’s submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.
All in all, this is a movie well worth watching, and we should be thankful for the European Film Festival’s efforts in bringing excellent examples of cinematic art to South Africa and making them available to all movie buffs. It runs from October 13 to 23rd, and all movies are screened for free. There are also some showings in cinemas in Cape Town and Johannesburg. – Barry Meehan
For more information, click on the Festival logo to the
right of this article or visit www.eurofilmfest.co.za
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