"Fragile Machine" - cyberpunk operetta

I want to tell you a little about this beautiful short animated film, the name of which literally translates from English as “Fragile Machine”. For a start, you can watch a ten-minute trailer , and then, if you like it, feel free to read the sequel.


So, “Fragile Machine” is a fantastic indie film created in 2005 by the Japanese creative group “ Aoineko ”.
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Plot

The main character of the film name is Leda Nia. She is a leading scientist of the Göln Remedios corporation, which specializes in creating androids. Leda is so saddened by the death of her daughter that she decides to become the main experimental subject in the Project Zero project, whose main goal is to place the Leda consciousness inside the android. However, in the course of the experiment, an error occurs, and Leda’s consciousness turns out to be locked up by an android ... A year goes by. Leda Nia becomes the main work of the corporation. While still inside the android, it has lost most of the human feelings and emotions, but at the same time continues to be aware of itself as a person trapped inside a foreign object. Moreover, she wants to escape from this "prison."

Features

The film lasts 34 minutes and is divided into 6 small parts. The story is a little girl android named Goho. “Fragile Machine” is not for nothing called “electronic opera” - a very beautiful futuristic visual series is combined with deep musical themes that are difficult to attribute to any one genre (you can listen to several tracks on the website “ Aoineko ”). Moreover, in order to understand the story, the viewer must pay close attention to the characters, lyrics, Goho comments, as well as various visual indicators present in the film. In practice, it may turn out that it will take more than once to revise a film in order to fully understand this most semantic and visual coding.

Questions

“Fragile Machine” is visually and symbolically rich enough so that the viewer can extract a number of fascinating thoughts. The main theme is the traditional idea of ​​cyberpunk, which is in the pursuit of humanity for the achievement of technological power, which can lead to the loss of what defines our civilization - humanity. The next question that rises in the film sounds something like this: “If the android had a soul, what would happen to her after the death of the android?” This problem is presented in much the same way as in the well-known anime “Ghost in the Shell”. As we progress in the study of artificial intelligence, this very line between people and machines begins to disappear. If a car has become intelligent, can it itself contribute to the emergence of its soul? I think every viewer will see many more similar motives.

Results

We rarely come across films where sounds and visual effects are inextricably linked in order to tell an interesting story. Despite the fact that the animation clearly does not reach the desired level in some places, the sound and visual effects are brilliantly executed. In general, “Fragile Machine” presents us with a complex, multi-layered picture, rich in various symbols and ideas. This is really another worthy representative of cyberpunk culture. To view required.

Sources and Related Links

Official film site
Licensed DVD Review
Cyberpunk Review Movie Review
IMDB.com (such a low score is most likely due to the jambs with animation)