'Robot Dreams' Speechlessly Captures Magic
Remember the first half of Wall-E, where there was no dialogue? It was the best part of the film that most animated pictures lack. Once the film gets into its second half, it becomes disappointingly standard. Film is a visual tool for storytelling. Despite all the clever dialogue in Citizen Kane, it's the composition of the scenes that counts. Robot Dreams isn't the cartoon equivalent of Kane by a mile, but it is ambitious. How do you ask an audience to sit through an entire film without a single word spoken?
The style has been done before. The 2012 Oscar Winner The Artist dedicates its entire narrative to being wordless since its entire story was about a silent film actor not being able to transfer to the talkies. The lack of dialogue could be tacky. It could have been Writer/Director Pablo Berger waving his hands around, yelling, "Look how creative I am! Nobody talks!" There are moments where characters are speaking, but they're taken from the angle of a character that can't hear them. The reason the movie works so well is because of its unforgettable charm.
Robot Dreams doesn't break any new ground, but does support what is a gold standard for storytelling. Movies could use less dialogue to communicate emotion. Some of the most powerful moments are the ones where nobody speaks. Scenes like the ending of Little Match Girl or the toys holding hands as they're about to get melted by the incinerator in Toy Story 3 stand the test of time. Robot Dreams proves that you don't need a lot of words to tell a memorable story. It's all about character relatability.
Robot Dreams takes place in 1980s New York, where animals occupy the city. There are no humans in the film and director Pablo Berger makes a clever joke of it. The main character of the film is a dog named Dog. All the other animals are given their species name rather than pet or human ones. Dog lives alone in a dumpy apartment in the middle of New York City. His schedule consists of going to his day job and then sitting alone watching late-night television. One night, when watching the telly, Dog runs into a commercial for a robot companion. The ad hooks Dog, where he immediately calls the 800 number flashing on the screen.
When Robot arrives, Dog builds what is to be his best friend in the world. Robot is designed to love his companion. Whenever someone smiles, he replicates it. All Robot wants to bring others joy in life. The platonic romance between Dog and Robot only lasts for a little while until a sudden event separates them for a long period of time. One day, when going out to the beach, Robot and Dog bask in the sun until it goes down. When they're about to depart, something terribly wrong happens. Robot can't move. Even worse. Dog doesn't have the strength to pull him out of the beach.
Out of despair, Dog returns to his apartment, only to arrive again when the beach reopens. Unfortunately for Dog and Robot, that's not until next summer. Marking the day on the calendar, Dog vows to return next summer so he can retrieve his stranded friend. The visuals of Robot lying helplessly alone in the sand, blocked off by an iron gate, are memorable. Through such a simple separation (the gate), Dog and Robot's dream of being together again seems impossible.
By the film's middle act, we begin to get into the subconscious of Robot, hence the film's title, Robot Dreams. Although, Robot isn't the main character. It's more of a Dog's tale, yet Robot Dreams has a more alluring sound to it. It's like the draw to Phillip K Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Robot Dreams is far from dystopian but close in subtext to PDK's book. Can robots love? What if Robot is like David from Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, unable to let go of his love for Dog to the point where it puts his life in danger?
Although our main character is a dog, his life hits close to home. How many of us had that moment, or are currently having it where we're all alone, sitting in our homes or apartments, wishing there was someone who could give us company? How many lonely Valentine's days or Christmas' have we had? How many of us had to go through break ups? How does time change and heal wounds that can't be unmended?
Robot Dreams examines these themes with a resonance that exceeds beyond words. It's an incredibly touching and subtle look at how love develops and changes as time moves on. Like the existential issues Woody must face of abandonment, Dog and Robot witness similar psychological crises.
It's heavy stuff for a kid's film, but that's what makes it so much better than just another children's flick. Robot Dreams dares to do more than just please the kids. Anyone can make Minions, but few can have a film where the parents can explain to the kids why they're crying at the end of the movie.
