The document summarizes three separate articles from the Riviera Reporter magazine. The first article discusses the new film "Ex Machina" which examines artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. It focuses on a man who is chosen to test an AI robot. The second article describes a new book by South African author Adam Cruise about the leadership of the first Prime Minister of South Africa during World War I. The third article previews an upcoming art exhibition in Callian, France featuring both established and young local artists. The exhibition will take place in a 12th century chapel and include musical performances.

1. 37June/July 2015 | Riviera Reporter 169 |www.rivierareporter.com
Après Cannes
côte Culture
BY DAN SEEGER
FILM: The creeping menace of artificial
intelligence has been the handy fodder
for cinematic science fiction at least as far
back as that time HAL and Dave got into
an argument about whether or not it was
a good idea to open the pod bay doors.
Besides the ready-made examination of the
myriad of impacts from the exponential
growth of technology, futuristic
storytelling stabs at artificial intelligence
also get at what it means to be human, best
evidenced by Spike Jonze’s recent stunner
“Her”. The directorial debut of novelist
and screenwriter Alex Garland, “Ex
Machina”, is another worthy contribution
to the ongoing onscreen debate.
The film, which opens in France June
3rd, begins with a corporate drone
(Domhnall Gleeson) who wins an in-
house contest to spend a week with his
company’s reclusive genius owner (Oscar
Isaac, proving his excellent performance in
the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis”
was no fluke). As it turns out, there’s more
the reward than a stretch in the big boss’s
pad. He’s there to test the verisimilitude of
the A.I. built into a comely robot (Alicia
Vikander, with an assist from some slick
CGI). Garland builds the script with a
novelist’s sensibility for gradually built
characters and nicely concealed plot turns,
and his visual sense apes the crisp, clean
chilliness of Stanley Kubrick without ever
seeming derivative. The ending drifts a bit,
which winds up further highlighting some
late storytelling chinks, but overall it’s a
winning first film for Garland as a director,
infusing a hooky science fiction premise
with gratifying reserves of intelligence.
BOOKS: A Nice resident who was
born in Johannseburg, South Africa,
author Adam Cruise (below), turns his
attention to a specific history of World
War I for his second book (and first
that expands beyond memoir). Louis
Botha’s War traces the leadership of
the first prime minister of the Union
of South Africa as he compelled
the country’s military to ally with
the British against Germany while
simultaneously dealing with heated
insurrection mounted by his own
countrymen. “The war to end all wars”
is well-covered territory, but Cruise has
found an intriguing avenue to expand
the parameters of a historic story
everyone thinks they already know.
ART: For some years now, a group of friends
and artists, locally based but from diverse
and global backgrounds, have put together
L’Art du Coeur exhibition – sculpture,
painting, ceramic, photography, inspiration
– in the beautiful 12th-century Chapelle
des Penitents Blancs in Callian, in the Var.
Visit free from June 22nd to June 26th,
11h-18h, and you’ll find this edition
slightly distinct as four young local
artists have been invited to join in the
expo, bringing a freshness and a certain
spirit of Renaissance of new talent.
There’s a free afternoon workshop called
“l’Expressions de L’Art” on June 24th for
artists of all ages, and musical evenings, as
varied as the works of art, include a jazz/
opera concert June 23rd, 19h (tickets €5).
The stonewalls of the Chapelle des
Penitents Blancs lend depth and richness to
the collection of paintings and sculptures,
and the musical evenings benefit
from its wonderful acoustic qualities.
The magical medieval village itself is
perched high above the surrounding
Provençal landscape and its winding
streets offer the visitor many charms.
For more information email Molly Holt:
lamdfall.molly@icloud.com or contact
Sebastian Smith on 06 11 93 87 37. n