(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Science fiction is a movie genre that often requires big budgets, but equally important for a successful result are the big thoughts these stories can hold. At its best, this is also a genre that harnesses the full aesthetic potential of film media, such as Stanley Kubrick did with 2001: a romodysse (1968). A film that combined philosophical thought experiments and groundbreaking power-making into a unique cinematically experience.
The science fiction genre has also long prevailed in the TV series format, with series such as Star Trek, Doctor Who og V. As the series has received budgets that are not left behind for the movies, at the same time as science and technology realizing more and more of what the genre used to rave about, it's no surprise that "sci-fi" appeals to the many who consume audiovisual stories at home.
One of the latest additions in that regard is the mini-series devs, the British writer and director signed Alex Garland (b. 1970), which is a mere demonstration of power of this format's formative and dramaturgical possibilities.
Gifted storyteller
Ever since he made a romance debut The Beach In 1996, Garland has distinguished himself as an exceptionally gifted storyteller with an impressive ability to combine fascinating concepts, interesting characters and enthralling dramaturgy. After the debut novel was filmed Danny Boyle, Garland himself wrote the screenplay for two films by the same director. 28 days later from 2002 was a refreshing revitalization of the horror sub-genre in horror films, which with its emphasis on virus spread has a certain timeliness in view these days. With Sunshine (2007) Garland took the step fully into the science-fiction genre, which has characterized his cinematography since he later also began directing.
Artificial intelligence
Rumor has it that in practice scriptwriter Garland was as much a director as the credited director Pete Travis on the feature film Dredd (2012), reviving the dystopian British cartoon character Judge Dredd on the movie screen. However, his official debut as a director came with the feature film Ex Machina (2014): a multifaceted and clever chamber game about artificial intelligence and man's ability to be a kind of god through technology – as well as about the artificial man's possible desire to free himself from his creator.
Technology and philosophy were also central to Garland's second feature film Annihilation from 2018, based on a novel by Jeff VanderMeer. This film was about a more concrete journey into the unknown, in the form of an area where a meteorite has hit the earth – which, among other things, turns out to affect the surrounding DNA.
Determinism versus free will
It ended eight episodes long television series devs, which is entirely written and directed by Garland, is in many ways related to the debut film Ex Machina. Here, though, he takes a quantum leap into a far more complex thought experiment, which embraces the idea of parallel universes and our possible free will. At the center of the action is a technology company named Amaya and their mysterious development department Devs (an abbreviation of "development"), where they are fanatically convinced of a deterministic view of reality. On the basis that everything can be broken down into causes and effects, everything must be predetermined by past events. From this, it will be possible to develop a computer that can calculate and recreate everything that has happened – and everything that will happen. And thus there is no room for any free will either.
I devs man occupies an all-knowing, god-like position.
I devs In other words, man occupies an all-knowing, god-like position, but is not necessarily a god who can intervene in creation.
[ntsu_youtube url = ”https://youtu.be/408u7VCMtZk” width = ”520 ″]Cool and elegant
The form language of devs has much of the same cool elegance as Ex Machina, filmed by Garland's regular photographer Rob Hardy. Where TV shows often have a more streamlined aesthetic than arthouse movies in particular, creates devs a distinctive mood – through both the imagery language and the almost dreamlike, stylized replica exchanges. The latter element, however, never becomes excessively artificial, as it resonates with the thematic foundation that everything that is said and done is already predetermined.
Moreover, the premise has a disturbingly dramatic effect. The classic film drama sets, as is well known, strict requirements for causality, where everything that happens must have an explicit cause. Based on this, the characters should act consistently and purposefully – but just as fully according to a prominent own will. devs has a very strong-willed main character, who is barely able to refrain from acting – while gradually suspecting that she cannot influence the course of events. It does not in any way cause the tension to subside along the way, but makes the paradoxes of a deterministic worldview become an integral and essential part of the drama.
In addition, the series goes deeper into the complicated issues than one might have imagined in a feature film, with its nearly eight hours of playing time.
Our digital reality
I'm not going to say that devs is completely realistic, but there is little doubt that Garland has become well versed in quantum physics as well as in the virtually limitless possibilities of modern technology companies. The series is particularly socially relevant in its portrayal of these companies 'extreme secrecy – including the lack of outsiders' control over the goals set and the means used to achieve them. devs however, embraces a number of aspects of our digital age, where most can be recreated on a screen in front of us – and where the distinction between digital representations and physical reality is becoming less relevant.
devs would not have been science fiction if it did not put a horse's head in front of actual technological development.
devs would not have been science fiction if it did not put a horse's head in front of actual technological development. But it is equally a prime example of the genre creating important reflections on the contemporary that are no less necessary as science gathers more and more of fiction. And as the last word about our possible free will is hardly said, the quirky ending to the series gives a lot to think about.
All episodes off devs are available at HBO Nordic.
Also read: Realists Stanley Kubrick
Artificial idiocy and natural intelligence
