Scraps of Mechanical Souls

The director Mateusz Miroslaw Lis combines artificial intelligence technologies and cinema to explore a fresh point of view on humanity and highlight the mechanical aspect of mankind.

Lost on the way home, Earnest (Sebastiano Zoletto) struggles to strike a balance between work and personal life. From a mechanical mind of an AI (GPT-2) comes 5 brief encounters of absurd and disarming everyday life that give a very different perspective on humans underlining its fragmentary and mechanical nature.

In the opening sequence of the short film- Scraps of Mechanical souls a small television screen moves toward the audience and takes the format of a video recording to delve into the movie to increase the engagement with the content. The long shot of the fields, trees, and mountains helps the viewers enjoy the serene vibes of the film and also connect with their souls to find peace within. The filmmaker and the creative team have carefully chosen an Italian landmark for unfolding the various major subplots to ensure the smooth flow of the narrative. The costume, makeup, and dialogues of the cinematic piece assist Mateusz Miroslaw to convey the key messages to the audience so that they can implement what they have learned in their daily lives to make it better in the long run.

Sebastiano Zoletto plays the role of Ernest who is struggling to give time to his personal life while he is busy with the unending office work. Zoletto uses voice modulation to express the guilt of not being able to take the much-needed break. Sebastiano Zoletto communicates the disappointment of the character through his eyes perfectly.

Nicole Greatti is in the role of Molly who wants to find answers to the complex human nature with the help of Literature. Greatti with utmost calm and composer tells her friend Leopold (Nicola Basello) ending up even convincing the audience about the same.

The short film Scraps of Mechanical soul sheds light on the importance of tackling the problem of loneliness by spending a happy time with loved ones. This experimental/drama also talks about the emotions being the building block of people and the requirement of a heart to feel. The creative piece teaches the audience that it is better to express love rather than regretting it later in life. It talks to its viewers about how crucial it is to emotionally support each other so that people can coexist as a society together. The short film reiterates the need for a friend that one can confide in so that he or she can motivate the person to become a better version of self. The short film tells us that life is very short so we need to embrace even the imperfections and pain life brings with it as we don’t have any time to waste.

In my opinion, the film tends to stay with the viewers as all the elements of filmmaking help uplift the script that intensifies the realism in the storytelling style. Though the director Mateusz Miroslaw Lis and the writer GPT-2 manage to emotionally appeal to the audience but I feel the movie needs a more definitive ending for a wholesome experience for the viewers.