Most robots don’t have IMDb pages. Geminoid F isn’t most robots.
The creepily real-looking, dark-haired, female android is receiving star billing in Sayonara, a feature-length film that premieres in Japan next month. It’s certainly not the first time a robot has appeared in a movie with a human. But not only does this ‘bot really look like a person—it’s getting the same star treatment as one, too, listed in the credits as a principal actor and appearing alongside co-stars at press conferences. Sayonara debuted at the Tokyo International Film Festival last week.
The movie is the film adaptation of a stage production, which the wheelchair-bound, Japanese-speaking android also starred in five years ago. It’s a story following post-nuclear doomsday in near-future Japan, and a sick young woman finds a maternal, comforting friend in an android companion.
So, you’re probably thinking—is the android any good? Well, The Hollywood Reporter described Geminoid F’s acting as “constrained” and “less than effusive.” But she’s also “unfailingly polite in a very Japanese way,” and “reads immortal poetry with feeling and aesthetic sensibility,” critic Deborah Young writes.
“In some ways, this is a new form of puppet theater,” said human star Bryerly Long said at a Tokyo International Film Festival press conference last week, “as her android co-star sat quietly to one side,” Variety reports. Long and the android appeared together in the stage version, as well.
We should take note that the robot is technically impressive. While humans have been appearing alongside robots on the silver screen for years, this one looks human herself. Geminoid F was created by renowned robot designer Hiroshi Ishiguro, who also served as Sayonara’s “android advisor.” He’s an Osaka University engineering professor known for his incredibly lifelike androids and their detailed facial movements, and has even created an android version of himself.
We’ve also covered famed Japanese roboticist Tomotaka Takahashi
So, will robotic actors take over Hollywood? Nah. For robots to really take off in any given field
For now, anyways. Like we reported yesterday with this pint-sized robot
Sayonara debuts November 21 in Japan, and overseas releases haven’t been announced. Watch the trailer (in Japanese) here.
[Variety and The Hollywood Reporter]
Top image via Tokyo International Film Festival
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