“After Yang” (PG) ** and a half

BASED on Alexander Weinstein’s short story “Saying Goodbye to Yang”, this film is about robotic “technobeings”, artificial intelligence and cloning, in a subtly-designed future scarred by environmental hubris.

Is it any good? That depends on the most important person in the cinema business – you, the filmgoer. 

I stopped liking the sci-fi genre when mankind went to outer space. I didn’t like “After Yang” for reasons I’ll explain later, resulting from form rather than content that, when reduced to purely human elements, is what makes any film good, bad or indifferent.

Jake (Colin Farrell) and Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith) adopted their daughter Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja) as a baby from China. Then, as Mika’s companion and to teach her about her cultural heritage and save money, they bought Yang (Justin H Min) a second-hand advanced android whose previous owners had kept him for only five days.

Curious, wondering about living people, Yang’s memories are fogging the line between helpful robot and older brother who has become part of Jake and Kyra’s family. Knowing his limitations, he hankers to experience and feel more. His musings on experiencing life are quiet, heartbreakingly wistful. Being merely a robot no longer satisfies him – he yearns to be more human.

And that’s not going to happen, is it?

Throughout the film, interior scenes (which dominate the film’s 96 minutes) are shot using available light. That can lead to unexpected consequences, confusing the image on the screen, especially shots through a car windscreen from outside, in which flickering reflections off that screen, rather than action inside the car, dominate the whole image.

South Korean/American writer/director Kogonada (a pseudonym based on Kogo Noda who wrote several of Yasujirō Ozu’s films; he doesn’t reveal his real name) might have expected his audience to understand his creative reason for using those techniques so lavishly. But my reaction was swelling annoyance rather than admiration.

At Dendy and Palace Electric