Guillermo del Toro said that his forthcoming film “Frankenstein” is not a warning about artificial intelligence
LOS ANGELES — Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro said that his forthcoming film “Frankenstein” is not a warning about artificial intelligence, which he is not afraid of.
The 60-year-old director, whose earlier work The Shape of Water won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2017, addressed questions about AI at the film’s official press conference ahead of its world premiere, when his monster movie, starring Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac will debut in competition for the festival’s top prize.
Revealing his new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel is about humanity, imperfection and power rather than technology, Del Toro said: “It’s not intended as a metaphor for that (the dangers of AI.) We live in a time of terror and intimidation, certainly.
“And there’s no more urgent task than to remain, in a time where everything is pushing towards a bipolar understanding of our humanity. The movie tries to show imperfect characters and the right we have to remain imperfect, and the right we have to understand each other under the most oppressive circumstances.”
“I’m not afraid of artificial intelligence. I’m afraid of natural stupidity.”
In the new version of Frankenstein, Jacob plays the creature locked in conflict with his creator Victor Frankenstein, played by Oscar.
Del Toro added he imagined the film not as a conventional horror story but as a layered family drama, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
He said: “I’ve been following the creature since I was a kid. I waited for the movie to be done in the right conditions, both creatively in terms of achieving the scope to make it different, and to make it at a scale that you could reconstruct the whole world. I’m in postpartum depression now that it’s finished.”
Jacob was asked at the same event who in society he views as monstrous.
He answered: “Men in suits.”
Del Toro interjected: “Very well tailored (suits.)”
Oscar was also at the event and recalled his first conversations with Guillermo about taking the role of Victor.
He said: “I can’t believe that I’m here right now. I can’t believe we got to this place from two years ago, sitting at (Guillermo’s) table eating Cuban pork and talking about our fathers and our lives, to him saying, ‘I want you to be Victor,’ then not really being sure if it was true or if I was just dreaming. It just seemed like such a pinnacle.”