david j. moore talks to Gabe Ibáñez, director of Autómata…
One of the very best films of 2014 is Gabe Ibanez’s Autómata, a science fictional tale set in a post-apocalyptic environment where just over 20 million people are left after solar flares and solar radiation have decimated the planet. Most of humanity resides in dark, crowded, and dank cities where robots have been created to help humans in the rebuilding of our world. But there’s a new problem arising: the robots are evolving and becoming self-aware. The film stars Antonio Banderas as an insurance investigator named Jacq Vaucan, who witnesses firsthand the dawn of a new era. Here, director Gabe Ibanez, talks about his film and its apocalyptic themes.
david j. moore: Can you talk a little bit about why you decided to set Autómata in a post-apocalyptic Earth where the sun had destroyed much of the planet?
Gabe Ibáñez: To be honest, David, I think the movie is pre-apocalyptic, not post-apocalyptic. It’s dealing with something that is happening before the apocalypse. It is happening because of the decadence of human beings. I defined the situation by the sun and the radiation because it’s really a possibility. It’s an idea that humanity is so decadent. Humanity is in decline. It’s just at the moment when this new race of artificial intelligence is coming. Also, this is a very post-apocalyptic or pre-apocalyptic situation. I love science fiction – the classic science fiction from the 60’s and 70’s. Movies like The Andromeda Strain, The Omega Man, and The Planet of the Apes, this kind of movie from those years. To set the movie in a pre-apocalyptic time or a post-apocalyptic time helps a lot to define some conflicts, and to have metaphors.
djm:I was reminded right away of the Richard Stanley movie Hardware, especially since you cast Dylan McDermott in a role where he’s hunting down rogue robots. The world you created here feels similar to Stanley’s world. Were you inspired at all by Hardware?
GI: It was an inspiration, but we weren’t thinking of Hardware. It was funny that many years after Hardware, Dylan McDermott was working on this movie, which had some elements and concepts where the robot becomes intelligent. I remember that Hardware had a desert beyond the city too, so it was funny to have the same elements. Hardware was not the direct inspiration, but it’s a very important title in the history of science fiction movies. It’s amazing to have Dylan McDermott in this role in Autómata.
djm: Say something about the theme of robots becoming self-aware, and why we as humans are so afraid of that.
GI: This possibility … one of the key elements I started with was that there was this machine that was able to create another machine. On the other hand, you have this conflict of singularities. If we have a machine so intelligent and human-like, then it will be able to create another machine. The evolution of the machine can be much faster than the evolution of the human brain, so it will be more intelligent than us in a few days. It’s a real danger. Artificial intelligence can get to a point where humans lose control. That theme is a real possibility.
djm: I know you have a background in digital effects, so I wanted to ask you if the robots in the film were digitally or practically done? The robots looked fantastic in the movie.
GI: They are practical. Thank you, this is a great question. I have a background in computer graphics, but when I decided to work on this movie I decided that the robots would not be digital. The kinds of movies I referenced earlier from the 60’s and 70’s, everything they did was practical. That was important. With this movie, I wanted everything to be real. The robots – especially one of the main character robots which has a relationship with the character Antonio Banderas played – I decided that digital effects wouldn’t work for the relationship they had on screen. We used old-fashioned technologies. It worked very well for the movie. It was good for the actors who had a real robot there. Every day on the set, we would have the robots there, and it worked very well for the crew. At the end, I really liked the relationships between the robots and the actors. You can have very good 3D robots, CGI perfect, but in Autómata everything was real.
djm: When I was watching the movie, I was reminded of Blade Runner, and Antonio Banderas plays a similar character to the one Harrison Ford played in that movie. The world feels similar, and they both have similar outlooks on life. How was Banderas chosen to star in this movie?
GI: I have a very good friend, Elena Anaya, who was working with Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas. I asked Elena if she would give the script to Antonio while they were working together in Spain. She gave him the script, and he loved it. He loved the character. He also loved the possibility of doing something different. Many times in Hollywood, Antonio was given very similar roles. He’s an icon of Latin America. He’s very opinionated, and he decided that he wanted to play the lead role and also wanted to produce the movie. He said to me, “I’m going to help you to make this real.” The only reason why this movie was made is because Antonio was there, working as the producer. Now, it’s very difficult to do a science fiction movie like this. Studios are not looking to do something like this now. Antonio was behind it all the way, working as a producer. We were able to do the movie because of him.
djm: The score of the film is fantastic. Say something about your composer Zacarias M. de la Riva and the score of the film.
GI: Thank you very much for that. I’m glad you liked the music. I’ve worked with him before on my previous feature. For me, the music has to be … many people want the music to be in the background, something the audience never has to notice. I think the music has to be a part of the storytelling. It has to be in front of you. Movies like Planet of the Apes – the music was very in front of the audience, and it was very important for the movie. It was very expressive, so that’s what we did with Autómata.
djm: How did Millennium, your distributor for Autómata, become involved with the film? Were they involved from the beginning or did they become involved after the movie was completed?
GI: No, no, it was from the beginning. They have worked with Antonio before. Antonio sent them the script and said, “I want to make this movie.” Millennium, you know, had worked with Antonio on Expendables 3, and they have a personal relationship with him. Millennium gave me the money, and said, “Okay, you have to shoot this in Bulgaria,” and believe me, Millennium gave me a lot of freedom on this movie. It was amazing. They didn’t change one line in the script. It was great to work with them. I know that Millennium doesn’t usually make these kinds of movies, and this was a very strange movie for them, but they worked very well with me. They said, “This is the amount of money you have. Don’t spend more than this, but do whatever you want with this money.” Freedom is the only way to do this kind of movie.
djm:If the world were to come to a kind of apocalyptic state as the one you show in Autómata, do you think you’d survive in that world?
GI: (Long pause.) Nnnnno. I don’t think so. (Laughing.) I don’t think so. I would be one of the first to disappear. (Laughing.)
djm: Is there anything you would like to add?
GI: Thank you very much. I love when people say they like this movie. It’s a special kind of movie. It’s for a certain kind of fan.
Thanks to Gabe Ibanez for taking the time for this interview.
Watch the trailer for Autómata here.
david j. moore is a contributing writer to Fangoria, FilmFax, Lunchmeat and VideoScope Magazines. His book WORLD GONE WILD: A SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO POST-APOCALYPTIC MOVIES was published this year.
