Storyhouse Young Programmers present Electric Hearts

The Storyhouse Young Film Programmers are proud to present Electric Hearts, a season of four films exploring the profound ways in which technology intersects with humanity, our relationships to each other and our relationships to the world.

In 1967’s PlayTime, actor and director Jacques Tati shows 1960s Paris as he saw it: neon lights, office cubicles, snooty fine diners, confusing appliances and fleeting connections. It was a time on the verge of technological breakthrough, the future coming to life right before the world’s eyes… Though, maybe the future’s not all it’s cracked up to be. At least in the eyes of Monsieur Hulot, Tati’s loveable klutz stumbling his way through the modern world. We follow him through one increasingly chaotic day in Paris as he finds himself pulled along by the city’s energy, landing him in scenarios both awkward and hilarious.

PlayTime is an exploration of modernity – of the ways it can baffle and disconnect us – with a delightful slapstick flair. It is a stark time capsule of the mid-20th century, providing a glimpse into a great artistic mind grappling with a world careening headfirst into a tech-powered future.

May 2024, Scarlett Johansson launched a landmark lawsuit against OpenAI for allegedly using her likeness for their new voice assistant. Her case is based around the fact that such a similarity bore too close of a resemblance to a previous role of hers to be a coincidence at all. The role in question? Her performance as a sentient operating system in Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her.

Nominated for five Academy Awards, the film speaks to the human need for love and intimacy, exploring how we navigate romantic connections in an increasingly online world. Set in a near future where shy and lonely writer Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is struggling in the wake of his divorce to his childhood sweetheart. In this emotional wilderness he discovers and forms a relationship with his AI operating system called Samantha (Johansson). Their romantic connection grows and develops as he continues to converse with his computer.

The world around us faces a rising influence from AI in all aspects of daily life, and more parts of everyday life move into online spaces after the pandemic. In the modern age our relationships are crafted, exist and even die within online spaces – it becomes clearer that Her speaks more to our lives and relationship with technology than it did upon its initial release.

Technology has re-defined courtship, birthing a new world of romantic possibility and, alongside it, new anxieties to consume the modern lover. Park Chan-wook’s 2022 masterpiece Decision to Leave recasts the mould of the romantic thriller to fit the present moment, turning the classic cop and suspect dynamic on its head with the introduction of a range of current tech. Texting, machine translation, GPS, voice notes; the sumptuous tryst between detective Jang Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) and the mysterious Chinese expatriate Song Seo-rae (Tang Wei) is defined by digital communication.

Director Park utilises the full extent of his digital toolkit to weave this tale, crafting impossible imagery which draws the viewer into Hae-joon’s spiraling affection and the delicate dance of power which he and Seo-rae trade in. The contrast this presents with the film’s nature-based iconography – ‘wise men like the water, benevolent men like mountains,’ – grants our two lovers an almost mythic quality, as though this is just the latest incarnation of a timeless bond, a classic cinematic trope writ anew.

Hae-joon often attempts to act chivalrous in Seo-rae’s presence; Seo-rae speaks Korean in what’s described as a ‘classical’ manner, a trait acquired from learning the language by watching historical dramas on TV. The 1960’s Korean hit Mist envelops the film’s narrative, being ‘resurrected’ in a sense by streaming services, before Park Chan-wook ‘resurrects’ the song again over the film’s resolution with a new cover featuring original singer Jung Hoon-hee. Yet, the characters are ultimately both bound and imprisoned by the technology through which they first relate. It is this constant blending of modern and antiquated, and the verve with which Decision to Leave adapts the many aspects of new romance, that have made the film a modern classic: a thorny, thrilling and tender work which is bound to make any viewer swoon.

Real Steel is the most family friendly film on this list. Starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Shawn Levy, it packs every heartfelt punch that the director is well known for. His previous works like Night at the Museum, and his future ones Free Guy, Fist Fight and Deadpool & Wolverine are prime examples of this over the last fifteen years.  

The film hits the theme of this film festival hard, taking several thousand years of pugilism and turning it metal – which Levy does excellently. It does not falter there, as unlike a lot of sports movies in the last twenty years, it actively looks at the interpersonal lives of its characters and tells of how the things in their lives affect their actions, making for powerful storytelling. Especially when you consider the characters of Max (Dakota Goyo), who lost his mother, and Charlie (Hugh Jackman) who steps up as his father – despite originally being unwilling – and they end up healing together.