MINORITY REPORT

MINORITY REPORT. Steven Spielberg, dir. USA: 20th Century Fox, Amblin Entertainment, Blue Tulip, Cruise-Wagner Productions, DreamWorks SKG (prod.) / 20th Century Fox (US dist.), 2002. Scott Frank and Jon Cohen, screenplay, from "The Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick. Tom Cruise, star. Ron Shusett, exec. prod. (possible contributor to script). (SOURCEs: IMDb for basic filmography. Shusett suggestion and "Minority Report" identified as story by www.philipkdick.com, Fantastic Universe 1956. Contento has that story "The Minority Report," Fantastic Universe Jan. 1956, coll. The Variable Man [New York: Ace, 1957].)

See for visuals of the superimposition of the cybernetic upon the human: full-body in the «Panopticonic» Containment chamber that serves as a prison for "pre-criminals," otherwise, mostly upon the head. Images of the film's three "pre-cogs" in a water bath—sedated, wired, and transmitting their visions to special police—suggest a high-tech variation on the motif of the mechanized womb and on the motif of technological tapping even of thoughts and visions. Note also "spiders": spider-like mini-robots that identify people with retinal scans.

(RDE, 24/VI/02)