For a discovery to be significant it must challenge previously held views and assumptions, however it may not be surprising as the process of a significant discovery is not always sudden and unexpected and can instead be a result of careful planning. In Simon Nasht’s documentary Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History (2004) Hurley’s discovery of his ability to manipulate truth and shape history through his photography provokes a questioning of authenticity and integrity in art. However, this discovery is a product of an extended and deliberate process and is not made unpredictably. In Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, the protagonist discovers that there is no clear answer to what make us human and this challenges the audience’s assumptions about …show more content…
This begins with the protagonist, Caleb, using the Turing Test on an android, Ava, in order to determine whether she possesses an authentic human intelligence. There is a duality in the construction of the set, with Ava framed consistently within squares and lines to create a sense of confinement, which is appropriate considering she is being held in her ‘cell’. Yet Caleb is also framed in squares, and even sits inside a cube of glass while he interviews Ava. This similarity of framing creates the impression that Caleb and Ava, though seemingly different, are in very much the same position. Further, Ava turns the position of dominance into her favour, as she begins to question Caleb. A subtle, persistent beat begins while Ava moves towards the camera and the camera zooms in to create a close up from a long shot, increasing the underlying tension in the shot. Ava tells Caleb: “Our conversations are one-sided. You ask circumspect questions and study my responses. You learn about me and I learn nothing about you. That’s not a foundation on which friendships are based.” Ava is clearly beginning to question whether Caleb has the right to be treating her as less than human, demonstrating her awareness. Garland continues to frame her in …show more content…
Throughout the film Caleb and Ava appear to grow closer and closer together, and Caleb ends up helping Ava escape her creator and imprisoner, Nathan. In the escape Nathan is killed by Ava, and Caleb waits in a security room where he is locked for Ava to free him so that they can return to society together. However, the traditional romantic subplot is subverted to shocking effect. The background music, a mash of deep reverberating sounds that create a pressurised atmosphere, increases in intensity. There is a mid shot of Ava in the foreground and in focus, dressed in human clothes and artificial skin in order to appear completely human, and Caleb in the background and out of focus. The shot is held for a moment as Ava moves her head slightly but does not look back. The music becomes so loud that all diegetic sounds are muted, as a simple cut between a mid shot of Ava leaving and Caleb screaming and smashing against the door that imprisons him provides a stark and poignant image of a human helpless against the absolute apathy of the AI that used him as a mere pawn in her game. Thus Garland subverts the romance narrative as the audience realises that Ava merely faked falling in love with Caleb in order to achieve her goal, leaving him to die with no remorse. Thus