NO TRAILER CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
First, the Recap:
Replacements have arrived. Is this not a message we should normally be happy with? After all, it tends to signify the ability to have something broken repaired, obtaining the use of something most likely necessary to our daily routines, and hence providing a much better service and situation for us as the end user to relish, or at least be productive with. Basically, it’s back to business as usual. However, what might be the situation when that which is being replaced ISN’T anything in disrepair or lacking in functionality–it’s only flaw–it’s human. On this day, programmer/coder/automation technician David (J. Alphonse Nicholson) gets the call to install newly developed manicure machines in a local nail salon. Needing the cash flow and ready to just do his job, his unanticipated run-in with one of the salon’s nail techs, Tippi (Cathy Bui) will cast a multi-faceted light on the entire scenario–and the choices that need to be made.
Next, my Mind:
The relentlessly prolific progression of our ever-advancing digital age crashes headlong into the equally stalwart force that is the human mechanism and the sheer will to remain relevant and interactive with our world’s fellow residents through this beautifully evocative and wholly pertinent short film from co-writers/directors Kelly Luu and Kevin Luu, producer Kristy Choo, and executive producers Constanza Castro, Domenica Castro, Naomi Funabashi, Travis Ing, Rishi Rajani, and Lena Waithe that had screenings as an official selection of the 20th Anniversary HollyShorts Film Festival which ran August 8th-18th at the renowned TCL Chinese Theater, Los Angeles and has now gained a much-deserved additional accolade in qualifying for the upcoming Oscars in the “Best Live Action Short” category. What also sets this apart is its ultimate originating source as part of one of the most excellent creative processes out there in support of new and upcoming filmmakers in the indie arena, Indeed‘s “Rising Voices” initiative. It is so very gladdening to see an organization provide this level of opportunity for these artists to not only have a platform to showcase their talents, but also to gain higher degrees of viewership and acknowledgement that is SO necessary for success.
Having become familiar with the projects offered through this campaign beginning with last year’s incredible slate that included such gems as “Last Days Of The Lab“, “My Nights Glow Yellow“, “Sarajin“, and the one that so adeptly echos the film I am reviewing here, in general thematic exploration, “The Ballad Of Tita And The Machines“, the narrative which follows a financially struggling automation tech who gets the call to install new machines at a local nail salon and subsequently runs into the tangibly palpable reality of what it really means to do his job, there is no denying the compelling and fully relatable nature of events we’re being shown as the realm of AI keeps making its presence known in stronger ways. The entire foundation here plays upon (or it honestly SHOULD!) our inherent fears, pause, and genuine uncertainties about technology and the magnitude of which it is already dominating our existence much less to the ongoing extent it is supplanting the necessity of PEOPLE to do the work, eliminating the very thing that MAKES accomplishment and lucrativeness in business what it really is.
What the film also does with such deep and stirring effectiveness is displaying HOW this loss of connection between PEOPLE occurs in the context of the narrative, and the powerful statement it makes is one I so hope will resonate with audiences when they watch it, as the fact we require ongoing examples, even via a fictional film, of the damaging effects technology has within the business world (much less in our personal lives via social media: trolling, cyber-bullying, et al) is unfortunate but, again, requisite. For the more we let go of WHO we as living beings are, the more isolated and detached we become, and that’s NOT how it should be at ALL. Additionally, the film’s themes also persuasively address the total coldness/emotionless attributes of AI, familial legacy, immigrants, the American Dream, the potency of interpersonal interactions and the value of “the small things” we take for granted within those encounters, the intrusive “demeanor” of technology, and the recognition and revisiting of our very heart towards one another, our trials, our aspirations, our needs, and having understanding again. It’s all here in affecting capacity.
The collecting of these aforementioned explorations makes the film’s finale all the more impactful, eloquent, and unequivocally moving. Simply beautiful and a testament of how this film strives for its specific message, not by being “preachy” or overbearing, but rather truthful, accessible, and provocative as it is intended. Nicholson is perfectly credible and elicits you as the viewer to empathize with his character’s side of the story via his performance as David, a man only looking to make ends meet, care for his ailing mother, and do his job as called upon. However, when his current employer sends him to install new manicure machines at a local salon that immediately threatens the business’ employees’ positions, the ensuing confrontations with them, one in particular, will alter every notion he’s been having to battle when it comes to compliance vs. compassion, with a choice accompanying it that will form a newly minted mindset about seeing people’s value, looking inward at what he holds most important, and trying to determine if it all can coexist.
Nicholson’s complete “everyman” attitude and very intentionally understated delivery works wonderfully here, as he still conveys the quietly energetic emotional quotient needed to give the narrative its punch and validity. Bui is a complete portrait of charm, playful sass, wholehearted sincerity, and fervently emotive vulnerability through her performance as Tippi, a long-standing salon nail tech who gets pushed into a place she must tread upon in order to plead her and her fellow technician’s case when the actuality of being “exchanged” for technology becomes a looming truth. As this revelation grows, she urges David to not only experience the skills the job he’s doing will be upending, but then deftly mixes in the story of her own life and the lives of so many of the others being impacted, illustrating it all isn’t just about the job, but about cultural heritage and the significance it represents. Whether she will be able to convince him to change his stance and duties quickly becomes the question, and how Bui guides her character through this to its conclusion is astutely executed by the actress, with a level of dynamic sway that’s inspired and poignant.
Supporting roles start with Devin Kelley as Julie, the salon’s owner/manager who really doesn’t seem that overtly concerned about the fact that real people will not be around her business for much longer, only looking to the ongoing success OF the company without any sense of what we can see is sympathy. Sandra Walters is Lynn, David’s homebound mother whom he takes care of and who ends up a part of both tense and tender instances with her doting but frustrated son. Joni Bovill appears as an AI representative at the medical office that David is in communication with about the bills stacking up from his Mom’s care but that also is the example of AI’s emotionless, “mechanical” nature. Finally, there is the absolutely engaging Jamie Tran, Ngoc Le, Cindy Nguyen, and Emi Ray as the salon’s core group of nail technicians who more than demonstrate they feelings about David’s presence, even when not saying a single word! There is a very unexpectedly humorous moment involving Tran’s character Pham that very much puts a perspective on the events that sums it all up appropriately!
So, in total, “Technicians” shines a penetratingly revealing light upon our fixation and, dare it be said, over-dependence on technology, the surging focus centering on making more and more of it how we achieve things with higher efficiency and expediency, plus the coldly calculating actuality of it superseding our own worth that then smartly veers direction to present the incontestable verity of everything that’s of greater substance which no AI will ever represent–a heart, soul, and spirit that is UNIQUELY and ONLY human.
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
