To put it plain and simple, Holy B3 is quite an experience. This experimental piece, directed by the Italian duo Claudio D’Attis and Roberto Basile (yet produced in Germany), has a bold, daring, and unique premise: to explore where the Bible is left in the digitalized world and how it’s connected to artificial intelligence.
This idea itself is enough to intrigue any viewer interested in either of these two subjects. Yet, the film finds several ways to surprise us, mainly by raising some thought-provoking questions related to not only faith and technology but also family and even purpose. One of the moments that will certainly linger in the viewer’s mind for a long time is when the narrator explains that our protagonist, Father Haase, discovered that reading the Bible was like falling in love, not with a girl, but with his mother. This notion, while a bit confusing and shocking at first, is cleverly explained as the film explores how often faith and religion come from close family bonds. People are unable to answer (or even understand) some of the biggest questions about their existence, so they embrace these elements as a way to find comfort and strength. Yes, faith and religion can be full of doubts and contradictions, but, again, if our human mind is unable to fully accept life’s greatest mysteries, we can’t expect to make sense of those beyond our understanding. Hence, that people need the belief of a greater power to accept and embrace their own humbleness and to have a comforting answer in challenging times.
But where is all of this left with the arrival of AI, a device that can pretty much provide us an answer to all of our infinite questions? Can AI accept the idea of faith and religion, or does its inherent logic reject it? The film doesn’t offer a clear answer to this, but it does explore how deeply our systems of beliefs, not only religious but also political and economic, are connected and how some of these have infected others. Money, power, and ambition have replaced the once noble and pure foundations of our religious ideas and turned all of these institutions into gigantic machines of greed and selfishness. And it’s not so much different with the AI.
Much like religions, AI has been created by humankind as a tool to find answers and it’s unlikely that it will be able to understand something beyond our own understanding capacities. Instead, it will continue to see the world through the lenses of people and, much like any other thing we have created, it will be corrupted by us.
So, perhaps the answer to where are the Bible and religion left in the AI world is that it won’t be replaced by technology, but that it will continue to provide the answers people want to get. Ultimately, people believe what they want to believe, and this will always be exploited by a greedy third party.
Then again, this might be just my interpretation of this film. As an experimental piece, it doesn’t offer a clear answer but rather leaves everything to the viewer’s perception, thus turning the film itself into yet another creation that reflects what we want to see. It really is an intriguing experience.
That’s not to say that the film goes without its flaws. While its black-and-white cinematography and style are interesting (especially during the opening sequence), some other scenes felt rather clunky. This could be a result of using AI to create several ambitious visual elements that, at points, are too odd to ignore. However, while this might be seen by some as a risky choice, we get the impression that this might be intended as a way to illustrate how AI can distort our perception of reality, and if that’s the case, the visual elements have been able to make us feel the confusion and inner debate that the story itself is trying to convey.
In any case, we recommend people to watch this film and come to their own conclusions. It will certainly create some conversations!
Director’s statement
“Many people asked me why I shooted Holy Bible, why it looks weird and confused. I cannot say why but I am sure that I showed a very intimate part of myself.”
