Electric Dreams (film)
Electric Dreams is a 1984 American-British science fiction romantic comedy film set in San Francisco that depicts a love triangle among a man, a woman, and a personal computer. It was directed by Steve Barron and stars Lenny Von Dohlen, Virginia Madsen, Maxwell Caulfield, and the voice of Bud Cort.
The film's credits dedicate it to the memory of UNIVAC I.
Plot
Miles Harding is an architect who envisions a brick shaped like a jigsaw puzzle piece that could enable buildings to withstand earthquakes. Seeking a way to get organized, he buys a personal computer to help him develop his ideas. Although he is initially unsure that he will even be able to correctly operate the computer, he later buys numerous extra gadgets that were not necessary for his work, such as switches to control household appliances like the blender, a speech synthesizer, and a microphone. The computer addresses Miles as "Moles", because Miles had incorrectly typed his name during the initial set-up. When Miles attempts to download the entire database from a mainframe computer at work, his computer begins to overheat. In a state of panic, Miles uses a nearby bottle of champagne to douse the overheating machine, which then becomes sentient. Miles initially is unaware of the computer's newfound sentience, but discovers it one night when he is awakened by the computer in the middle of the night when it mimics Miles talking in his sleep.A love triangle soon develops among Miles, his computer, and Miles's neighbor, an attractive cellist named Madeline Robistat. Upon hearing her practicing Minuet in G major, BWV Anh. 114 from Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach on her cello through an air vent connecting both apartments, Edgar promptly elaborates a parallel variation of the piece, leading to an improvised duet. Believing it was Miles who had engaged her in the duet, Madeline begins to fall in love with him though she has an ongoing relationship with fellow musician Bill.
At Miles's request, Edgar composes a piece of music for Madeline. When their mutual love becomes evident, however, Edgar responds with jealousy, canceling Miles's credit cards and registering him as an "armed and dangerous" criminal. Upon discovering this humiliation, Miles and Edgar have a confrontation, where Miles shoves the computer and tries to unplug it, getting an electric shock. Then the computer retaliates by harassing him with an improvised maze of remotely controlled household electronics, in the style of Pac-Man.
Eventually, Edgar accepts Madeline and Miles's love for each other, and appears to commit suicide by sending a large electric current out through his acoustic coupler modem, around the world, and finally reaching back to himself just after he and Miles make amends.
Later as Madeline and Miles go on vacation together, Edgar's voice is heard on the radio dedicating a song to "the ones I love", titled "Together in Electric Dreams". The credits are interspersed with scenes of the song being heard all over California, including a radio station trying to shut it off, declaring that they do not know where the signal is coming from.
Cast
- Lenny Von Dohlen as Miles Harding
- Virginia Madsen as Madeline Robistat
- Maxwell Caulfield as Bill
- Bud Cort as Voice of Edgar
- Don Fellows as Mr. Ryley
- Miriam Margolyes as Ticket girl
- Giorgio Moroder as Record producer
- Koo Stark as Girl in Soap Opera
Production
Barron took the script to Virgin Films, and it agreed to finance within four days. The film was presold to MGM/UA who brought rights for the U.S., Canada, Japan and South East Asia. Two months after Virgin agreed to make the movie, filming began in San Francisco. Studio work was done in London at Twickenham Studios.
Virginia Madsen later recalled she "was very spoiled on that movie, because it was such a lovefest that I now believe that every movie should be like that... I had a mad, crazy crush on Lenny Von Dohlen. God, we were so... we were head-over-heels for each other. Nothing happened, and at this point, I admit it: I wanted it to happen... He's still one of my best friends."
Bud Cort provided the voice of the computer. The director did not want Cort to be seen by the other actors during scenes so Cort had to do his lines in a padded box on a sound stage. He said, "It got a little lonely in there, I must admit. I kept waiting to meet the other actors, but nobody came to say hello." Boy George visited the set and, being a fan of Harold and Maude, got Cort's autograph.
The computer hardware company's name in the film is "Pinecone", a play on Apple Computer.
The movie features music from Giorgio Moroder, Culture Club, Jeff Lynne, and Heaven 17. During filming, Barron said, "The fact that there's so much music has to do with the success of Flashdance. This film isn't Flashdance 2. Flashdance worked because of the dancing. It didn't have a story. Electric Dreams does."
Barron later said "Electric Dreams was definitely an attempt to try and weave the early 1980s music video genre into a movie.... isn't that deep. The closest parallel is probably that it's a Cyrano de Bergerac-like exploration of how words and music can help nurture and grow feelings on the path to love. Oops that's too deep." In 2015, he said when he made the film there was a prejudice against video clip directors doing drama, and because Electric Dreams "was a little bit like an extended music video... I didn't help that cause in a lot of ways. ".
Fans of Electric Dreams have noted the similarities between the film and Spike Jonze's Her. When asked about it, Jonze claimed not to have seen the former film. In 2009 Barron said that Madsen told him she was planning on being involved in a remake. He said, "She didn't ask me to do it, so I guess I blew my chance on the first one! I wouldn't actually do it, but it would have been nice for the ego to be asked."
Music
The soundtrack features music from prominent popular musicians of the time, being among the movies of this generation that actively explored the commercial link between a movie and its soundtrack. The soundtrack album Electric Dreams was re-issued on CD in 1998.Steve Barron later recalled:
Release
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 44% based on 16 reviews.The New York Times said that the film failed to "blend and balance its ingredients properly", and that it lost plot elements and taxed credibility.
The Los Angeles Times called it "inspired and appealing... a romantic comedy of genuine sweetness and originality".
Film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert each gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, with Siskel writing that it showed a new director eager to show off his talents and Ebert writing "One of the nicest things about the movie is the way it maintains its note of slightly bewildered innocence."