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Conceiving Ada

1999, Movie, NR, 85 mins

Conceiving Ada: Review

CONCEIVING ADA
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Neither the groundbreaking use of digital technology nor the estimable talents of actress Tilda Swinton can save this ridiculous cyber-portrait of Ada Byron, estranged daughter of Lord Byron and one of the earliest computer theoreticians. The film opens in 1993, as pregnant computer genius Emmy Coer (Francesca Faridany) is hard at work developing software that will enable her to communicate with long-dead historical figures. Emmy's prime target: 19th-century mathematician Ada Byron (Tilda Swinton), who anticipated the development of computers and is generally credited with writing the first computer program. Not only does Emmy finds a way to tap into Ada Byron's "memories" (she watches scenes from Ada's tumultuous life on her computer monitor) but using her own DNA coding, she's able to communicate directly with her heroine. Ada describes the frustrations of a visionary woman trapped in a world in which women are expected to do no more than bear children -- feelings that coincide with Emmy's own situation. The conceit underlying this production -- written, produced and directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson, a new-media artist who teaches at the University of California -- is that Byron's 19th-century milieu is conjured solely through of computer technology. Instead of relying props and sets, Leeson uses digitized photographs and Quicktime animations to construct entire rooms; the actors were shot against a blue-screen, and watched themselves move through the virtual spaces on monitors. It's a great promo reel for virtual production design, but that's all it really is: As drama, it's laughable. Swinton is marvelous, but the silly script is rife with unconvincing techno-babble, and sheds no real light on the altogether fascinating Ada Byron. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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