Product Details

• Actors: John Perry Barlow, Karen Black, David Brooks, Mark Capri, David Eppel
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Fox Lorber
• DVD Release Date: February 1, 2000
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00003O030
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #78,261 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Conceiving Ada" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This unusual, thought-provoking film, part science fiction, part magical realism, introduces us to the fascinating historical figure of Ada Byron King, daughter of the famous (some would say infamous) British poet, Lord Byron. Ada, brought to wondrous life here by Tilda Swinton (Orlando), was a mathematical genius far ahead of her time, who developed the world's first computer language in the mid-19th century. She was precocious in other ways as well: her father's daughter, Ada was sexually promiscuous, a gambler, and an opium addict. In the film, modern-day genius Emmy Coer (Francesca Faridany), working on creating artificial life via the computer, becomes obsessed with Ada. Using her own DNA, Emmy is somehow able to channel Ada's memories and play them back on her computer screen. The two women leading parallel lives eventually become inextricably tied for all time. The movie may sound rather arcane, but its vibrantly female point of view renders it anything but dry. It actually makes mathematics seem marvelously sexy. The supporting cast adds to the film's distinctiveness: Timothy Leary (yes, the Timothy Leary, the LSD guru), is Sims, Emmy's spectral cybervision of a mentor, and the inimitable Karen Black appears as the mother of both Emmy and Ada. --Laura Mirsky

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly Unusual And Original, September 1, 2000

By	carol irvin "c.k. irvin" (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I wasn't expecting much from this film since I'd never heard of it. It had been released back in 1997 and I couldn't have missed something this good, could I? Not this movie-hound! It pains me to admit it but I indeed let this one slip by. The totally inventive idea is to have a woman genius of today's world, working on her computer to finish her research project, meet Ada Byron. This genius conceives a child with her lover while doing this work and shortly thereafter discovers she is able to communicate with Ada Byron, Lord Byron's daughter and the inventor of the computer, through her computer screen. We thereafter flip back and forth to the two worlds, learning more and more about Ada and even a bit about the woman carrying the baby and running the computer. There is even a visit to the OB-GYN with today's woman that shows something unusual is developing with the baby. Timothy Leary puts in what was probably a final screen appearance before his death as, what else, a guru for the woman genius. She consults him periodically and they discuss abstractions together. There are some highly original camera techniques used here that either required fairly new equipment/technology, a lot of imagination or both. IMDB lists this as a German production but it is performed in the English language and seems set in America and England. The reason I give it a 4 instead of a 5 is that at times the film got confusing. I think this was because the script was rough around the edges. If the writer had smoothed out the script and eliminated any potential confusion, this could have been a perfect 5. I'm going to watch it again and it may move up to that 5 if my confusion clears a second time through it. I recommend you give this a try, especially anyone interested in historical women bucking the odds back in what were barbaric times for them.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Conceiving nothing!, June 18, 2005

By	Gina Miller (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a true Ada Lovelace fan, I have books about her, books about Babbage, and her picture in my office, but this film is not about Ada. From the first moment the dialog began I cringed inside and any sliver of hope I had (even at this point), I knew was extremely wishful. The script was dreadful, it was reminiscent of someone you meet who upon trying to impress you, tries too hard, is a name dropper and talks incessantly about subjects you are informed of in a way that is immature and simply uncomfortable. If you are someone who understands the historical importance of Ada, this plot will be nothing but torture to you, and feel strikingly sacrilegious. This movie is not intelligent, but rather, it is insulting, has it's own agenda, takes credit for ideas that have been established by others, marries multiple plots into an annoying and badly acted overkill and is mostly disrespectful, as Ada's name has been used and defamed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Movie!!, August 10, 2003

By A Customer

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!!