El Hombre Perfecto

I'm quite enamoured with fiction regarding artificial intelligence at the minute, so I jumped at the opportunity to watch this film about a woman who is paired with a humanoid robot who has been programmed to be her ideal partner.

I thought it was a very astute film full of incisive commentary on intimate human relationships and the imperfect nature of love. There was plenty of clever wit throughout, and the performances of Dan Stevens and Maren Eggert were brilliant (Eggert took home the Best Acting award at the Berlin Film Festival). I thought the script by writer-director Maria Schrader was very well written. There's often the risk with films that tackle themes such as these to come across as pretentious, but it was handled well and came across down to earth while also thought-provoking. The minimalistic and isolated score from Tobias Wagner also served well to complement some of the themes of loneliness explored within.

Overall, I'm Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch) is a very refreshing and unique take on the romantic comedy genre with a lot of hidden depth and thoughtfulness. An excellent addition to Maria Schrader's screenwriting and directing career.

Summary:

Remarkable film that with great sensitivity and intelligence and from science fiction addresses a mid-life crisis and deconstructs the love bond and romanticism, but without giving it up.

Review

Alma is an anthropologist who works in a Berlin museum doing research on cuneiform writing. To obtain funds, she agrees to participate in a scientific test where she must live for three weeks with an android programmed to satisfy all her wishes.

The film by Maria Schrader (director of the Unorthodox miniseries and the film Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe) manages with this story to combine and reflect on various issues without remaining a mere anecdote.

First of all, the German title, Ich bin dein Mensch, is significant. It is not "dein Mann" (man in the sense of male human) but "dein Mensch", which in German means man, but as a human being in general. And this distinction is relevant for everything that the film addresses. And the "Ich bin" (I am) places the title in the first person of the humanoid.

Of course, the film reflects and acutely on the implications of relating physically and emotionally with a humanoid and algorithms-base affinity and it does so many times in the voice of Alma (an extraordinary Maren Eggert), especially when she speaks with the humanoid Tom (Dan Stevens, beautiful, perfect and measured and speaking in German). And the story is also placed on Tom's side.

But co-writer Maria Schrader goes beyond the plots of the science fiction story and frames it in the midlife crisis that it triggers in Alma, a woman who seems to put all her energy into her profession, who is not recovered from her injuries and that he is capable of a certain aggressive cynicism. And she adds a lucid study on power relations and alterity in love ties, because What does it mean to relate to someone whose main objective is to please us? What kind of link can be established under this premise? Is there an other? Can love and happiness prosper?

The film knows how to raise its questions not only with the spoken word and of course it outlines some answers. But his main merit lies in the realm of the ineffable (there is a remarkable scene in a forest in this sense), in the climates (which include an effective use of comedy) that it knows how to create with a sensitivity and delicacy that at times appear to the abyss and in others to hope, in this story that deconstructs the love bond and romanticism without giving it up.

Greetings again from the darkness. The thing about humans is that we are always looking towards the future to see how we can make things easier, better, or more exciting. This is often with an eye towards more fuel-efficient cars, smaller and more powerful computers, and more effective medical treatments. Writer-director Maria Schrader and co-writer Jan Schomburg have adapted the short story from Emma Braslavsky and turn the lens to relationships and love. Is it possible to advance inter-personal relations to the point of perfection? Would that even be desirable or preferable to the messiness that's gone on since the beginning of time?

It's actually the film's premise that impresses most. Maren Eggert stars as Alma, an Anthropologist who has dedicated years of her life to leading a team documenting the earliest human use of poetry. Alma is a serious and determined woman, and one who bears the scars of a recent breakup. She's drawn into an extraordinary experiment that blends high-tech with sociology. Advanced robots have been developed to become the "perfect" mate, and are programmed specifically for one person. Alma has agreed to the three-week trial, and her robot is Tom (played well by Dan Stevens, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, 2017).

Their initial interactions are quite awkward as Alma is skeptical and Tom is programmed to constantly and quickly learn and evolve based on Alma's reactions. Despite Alma's hope for companionship and recognition of her own biological clock, she seems to catch herself anytime she begins to feel a bit of joy. She never imagined that her pursuit of happiness would be dependent on advanced robotics. To monitor the progress, the program's director, played by Sandra Huller (TONI ERDMANN, 2016) periodically checks in. And yes, she holds her own secrets.

This is a clever film that delves a bit deeper into human emotions than we originally anticipate. It also contains quite a bit of humor - the initial dance club introductions are pretty funny, as is Tom's facial expression each time he's tweaking his algorithms. We do learn flirting is "difficult to program", although in today's society, that's a treacherous path anyway. Of course, Alma slowly comes around to the idea of an artificial relationship - one that by definition can never be real. The film is not at the level of EX MACHINA (2014), although it's less about technological advances and more about self-realization. Ms. Schrader's film is plenty entertaining to watch and one that slyly points out many flaws of us human beings, while delivering an unexpected ending.

And a very advanced one at that, at least in the movie. In an undisclosed time frame, in cosmopolitan Berlin, artificial intelligence has evolved to the point that robots are indistinguishable from humans. A persnickety academic, Alma (Maren Eggert, in a frosty performance I found endearing) is asked to bring such a specimen home, and report back whether it is suitable for long term companionship, not just as a super efficient cook or housekeeper, but as a partner, a lover.

Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) plays the robot Tom, and his performance is a delightful blend of dry witticisms and self-deprecating humor, aware that humans expect a robotic concoction from a 1950s sci-fi movie, and having fun bursting the balloon, although Tom does experience a few glitches along the way. I'm Your Man aims higher than slapstick love machinations. It selectively doles out rom-com tropes, but also finds a poignancy while delicately posing the question of what it means to be human, and whether the artificial version might be as good or better than the real thing.

It would make a good double bill with "Making Mr. Right".

I'm Your Man: Another film about A. I., consciousness, love and relationships. Basically a romantic drama. Alma (Maren Eggert) is an archaeologist who agrees to beta test an android, Tom (Dan Stevens) who is programmed to be the perfect fit for her emotionally and intellectually. After a couple of teething problems she takes him home but grates at his suggestions. An odd coupe indeed in spite of supposedly being the perfect match. How things between them develop is moulded by Alma's personal and professional life. Her father is ageing and won't admit that he can't cope, Alma grieves over a miscarriage she suffered during a past relationship and her former partner is very much around. Even Alma's childhood is relevant to the narrative. Quite funny but also serious at times in how it deals with people being treated as objects and denied agency. In some ways this is a reverse Stepford Wives. Directed/Co-written by Maria Schrader. 8/10.