Conceiving Ada

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Movie!!
Review: This is one of those rare movies that is intelligent and thought provoking...The actors are wonderful and the story brings together the classical and post modern themes into a mystical woven movie...This movie should not be missed and a fitting tribute to Ada Byron, who was so far ahead of her time....
A brilliant movie one of the best....a treasure!!

Rating:
Summary: Tilda Swinton Is Byron's Daughter, a Mathematical Genius
Review: This unusual film is about Ada Augusta Byron King Lovelace, a daughter of the poet Byron. Her name is overshadowed by this famous father, but Ada is, the film informs you, actually a genius on her own, a kind of 'mother' of modern computer system. If my source is to be relied on, Pentagon of the US government in fact adapted the name od ADA for its computer language program.

"Conceiving Ada" has, however, a little confusing structure. It starts with Emmy, a woman living in the 20th century, so inmmersed in the possibility of re-creating the thoughts and images of the past events, using the special computer techiniques and the DNA patterns inherited from Ada Lovelace, the pioneer of the computer languages. One of her mentors, Sims (Timothy Leary, who died 9 days after the shooting of the picture), helps her, giving vital information, but with some warnings.

Emmy succeeds in going "interactive" with the real Ada (Tilda Swinton) living in the early Victorian era. From then, the film traces the eventful life of Ada, who was leading unconventional life, going out with several males, or being addicted to gambling, in spite of her strictly conservative mother's adomoniton. (Her/ Emmy's mother is played by Karen Black). Ada's lifestyle, on the other hand, influences that of Emmy, who is living with her boyfriend, and is going to have a baby (meaning "conceiving Ada").

The central idea is that of sci-fi films, but "Conceiving Ada" looks more like intent on championing this unique female nearly forgotten in the history. Though the idea is a worthy one, the film lacks decent budget to realize the well-intentioned purpose. The film is made in 1997, and this fact might explain the lack of convincing images which could have brought the interesting concept to life.

Director Lynn Hershamann Leeson, known as visual artist using videos and other visual media, made a decent debut film with this one, thanks to Tilda Swinton's rivetting acting as Ada. The film is shot in digital camera, but that is not damaging after all -- the director knows how to use it -- but if you expect something very Victorian, like costumes and manners, then you will be disappointed. And if you want to know this historically neglected genius, then you won't get enough, for half of the film is used to show Emmy, almost always sitting before a modern-day PC (which is not an engaging scene, as you imagine). The film falls short in both ways, and considering the potential power of the subject matter, "Conceiving Ada" might have worked better with less time spent on Emmy, and more on Ada.

Not a bad film at all, with always great Tilda Swinton. The problem is not the subject which is intriguing to know, but the way it is presented.

Rating:
Summary: Tilda Swinton Is Byron's Daughter, a Mathematical Genius
Review: This unusual film is about Ada Augusta Byron King Lovelace, a daughter of the poet Byron. Her name is overshadowed by this famous father, but Ada is, the film informs you, actually a genius on her own, a kind of 'mother' of modern computer system. If my source is to be relied on, Pentagon of the US government in fact adapted the name od ADA for its computer language program.

"Conceiving Ada" has, however, a little confusing structure. It starts with Emmy, a woman living in the 20th century, so inmmersed in the possibility of re-creating the thoughts and images of the past events, using the special computer techiniques and the DNA patterns inherited from Ada Lovelace, the pioneer of the computer languages. One of her mentors, Sims (Timothy Leary, who died 9 days after the shooting of the picture), helps her, giving vital information, but with some warnings.

Emmy succeeds in going "interactive" with the real Ada (Tilda Swinton) living in the early Victorian era. From then, the film traces the eventful life of Ada, who was leading unconventional life, going out with several males, or being addicted to gambling, in spite of her strictly conservative mother's adomoniton. (Her/ Emmy's mother is played by Karen Black). Ada's lifestyle, on the other hand, influences that of Emmy, who is living with her boyfriend, and is going to have a baby (meaning "conceiving Ada").

The central idea is that of sci-fi films, but "Conceiving Ada" looks more like intent on championing this unique female nearly forgotten in the history. Though the idea is a worthy one, the film lacks decent budget to realize the well-intentioned purpose. The film is made in 1997, and this fact might explain the lack of convincing images which could have brought the interesting concept to life.

Director Lynn Hershamann Leeson, known as visual artist using videos and other visual media, made a decent debut film with this one, thanks to Tilda Swinton's rivetting acting as Ada. The film is shot in digital camera, but that is not damaging after all -- the director knows how to use it -- but if you expect something very Victorian, like costumes and manners, then you will be disappointed. And if you want to know this historically neglected genius, then you won't get enough, for half of the film is used to show Emmy, almost always sitting before a modern-day PC (which is not an engaging scene, as you imagine). The film falls short in both ways, and considering the potential power of the subject matter, "Conceiving Ada" might have worked better with less time spent on Emmy, and more on Ada.

Not a bad film at all, with always great Tilda Swinton. The problem is not the subject which is intriguing to know, but the way it is presented.

Rating:
Summary: Conceiving Ritalin
Review: Weeell, it all started innocently enough - the VHS box said it was a film where Tilda Swinton portrayed Ada Augusta Byron King, the intriguing daughter of the equally intriguing Lord Byron. And indeed, I probably *would* enjoy seeing a film in which Tilda portrayed that character, but unfortunately, this film wasn't exactly it. 'Conceiving Ada' makes a misguided attempt to modernize the story by having Byron's daughter interact with present-day characters, ostensibly communicating through proprietary software. (I don't think it ships with Windows 98.)

While the decision to weave Ada's plotline into a second one is bad enough, the film is done infinitely more harm by the wretched dialogue and casting for the modern-day characters. Taking nothing away from Keanu Reeves, I think J.D. Wolfe has presented a strong case for worst performance by a human actor in the 20th Century - assuming that this aptly named lycanthrope is, indeed, human. Hairy, dim-witted and slow, this heavy-lidded beast displays no energy, no comic timing, no anything! Francesca Fardinay is not nearly as bad in the lead role, but her performance is crippled by (a) laughable dialogue - "I've paid my dues!" she retorts as her justification to warp her own unborn child's DNA structure - and (b) the most unflattering wig known to man. The storyline is impossibly convoluted, the science absurd, and the biography lost in the shuffle.

If you're looking for an unusual film which straddles centuries and stars Tilda Swinton, ORLANDO is your only hope. View this film only if it becomes necessary to induce an epileptic fit - it serves no other purpose. Hisssss!