μηχανῆς ) in the ancient Greek theater was called a crane, which allowed the actor to be lifted above the stage (allowed him to “fly”). In the ancient theater, the expression denoted a god appearing in the denouement of a performance with the help of special mechanisms (for example, “descending from heaven”) and problem solver heroes. Of the ancient tragedians, Euripides was especially fond of the technique, in his surviving works it is used eight times. In modern times, this technique is found, for example, in Moliere ("Amphitrion"). AT contemporary literature expression used to indicate unexpected resolution difficult situation, which does not follow from the natural course of events, but is something artificial, caused by outside interference.

In Russian, there is a similar expression “piano in the bushes”, as well as the less well-known “and then our tanks come around the corner”.

In literature

The technique is widely used in various literature. Sometimes this is a clear intervention of higher powers (for example, in the censored "Angara" version of "The Tale of the Troika" by the Strugatsky brothers, the ending is made in the form of a frank deus ex machina, when the heroes who finally surrendered and lost the will to resist are saved by the highest magicians from NIIChaVo who appeared at the last moment, dispersed the Troika), but divine intervention can be disguised as an accident or, in science fiction, framed in the form of some kind of omnipotent technical device or technology that fell into the hands of the heroes and ensured their ultimate victory.

Some writers consider the use of the “God from the Machine” a sign of low quality, poor study of the work. So, H. G. Wells spoke of the application of the deus ex machina technique in science fiction: "When everything is possible, nothing is interesting" (Eng. If anything is possible, then nothing is interesting). However, in the book The War of the Worlds, the Martians, who destroyed everything in their path and apparently defeated humanity, are killed overnight by bacteria.

Fresy Grant, in The Young Graphomaniac's Dictionary, notes that "the miraculous resolution of the conflict, as if woven out of thin air," devalues ​​the plot itself, making everything that happened before meaningless.

Also, this expression is found in the form of a common metaphor in the cycle of Sergei Lukyanenko "Dream Line", often repeated from the lips of Arthur van Curtis and his father as a description of some higher technology that they got access to on the Grail and made it possible to realize "aTan" for people ( rebirth in a new body immediately after death) and the “Dream Line” (in fact, the creation of a “personal universe” built according to the hidden motives and desires of the person using this service and moving him there).

To the cinema

A miraculous rescue at the last moment of heroes who find themselves in a hopeless situation and pursued, or fighting with cruel enemies is a technique widely used in cinema. In particular, it is typical for westerns: in one of the first, considered a classic, film in this genre - Stagecoach (1939) directed by John Ford - the stagecoach pursued by the Indians is rescued by regular cavalry appearing at the last moment. It was in this form that the scene was repeatedly used in other westerns, which gave rise to the expression "Cavalry from behind the hills", which is now often used, and not only in cinema, almost analogously to "Deus ex machina", as a general designation for the situation of the extremely unlikely rescue of heroes by intervention friendly forces.

Works, objects borrowing expression

Computer games

There are several computer games whose names are references to this expression.

Films and series

• Ex machina is a 2015 British science fiction film written and directed by Alex Garland, making his directorial debut.
• "Deus ex machina" is the title of the 19th episode of the 1st season of the television series Lost. Translated into Russian, the series was called "What the jungle is hiding."
• "Ex deus machina" is the title of the 7th episode of the 9th season of the television series Stargate: SG-1.
• "Machina ex deus" - the inscription on the shield of Bender's robot, who imagined himself a knight, in the movie "Futurama: Bender's Game".
• "Deus ex machina" is the title of the 9th episode of the 1st season of the animated series "Transformers: Prime".
• "Deus ex machina" is the title of episode 23 (final) of the Ergo Proxy anime series.
• "Deus ex machina" is the title of the 25th episode of the anime "RahXephon" translated into English.
• "Deus ex machina" is the title of the 23rd episode of the 3rd season of the series In Sight. Translated into Russian, the series is called "God from the Machine."

Books

• "Deus ex machina" is the title of a story from Dmitry Glukhovsky's book "Stories about the Motherland", published in 2010.
• "Deus est machina" is the second poetry collection of the literary association "Front of Radical Art", published in 2003.
• The final chapter of M. Bulgakov's story "Fatal Eggs", in which an unexpected denouement takes place, is called "The Frosty God in a Car."
• The fourth book in the Batman: Detective Comics series of graphic novels by James Tynion IV is titled Deus Ex Machina (December 2017). The edition in Russia is being prepared for release, the translation of the title is unknown.

Musical works

• Deus ex machina is the name of an Italian progressive rock band.
• "Deus ex machina" - a cycle of songs of the "Poison Theater" group.
• "Deus ex machina" is the title of an album by the Polish band Vesania.
• The phrase "Deus ex machina" is used in the titles of the first solo albums Norwegian singer Liv Kristin () and the group "Art by machinery" ().
• "Deus ex machinae" is the title of the band's album "Machinae supremacy".
• Pure reason revolution", playing progressive rock, from the album "Amor vincit omnia".
• "Deus ex machina" is the title of a song by the math rock band "If These Trees Could Talk" from the album Above the Earth, Below the Sky.
• "Deus ex machina" is the title of a song by the gothic metal band "Moi dix mois" from the album "Beyond the gate".
• "Deus ex machina" - the name of the composition of the group "

The name of the British sci-fi movie "Ex Machina", what exactly does it mean? Is there any connection to the famous game series "Deus Ex"?

Mladen Orsolic

Latin "Deus ex machina" = English. "God from the Machine" At least that's what we were taught in high school.

Anton

Deus ex Machina means "God at work" or, more simply, it means divine intervention. In most media, it is considered a negative term and refers to an impossible situation that is solved by some contrived means. This is considered bad and lazy writing and is often used to create a ton of drama in a disastrous scene and then still get a "happily ever after" ending. The connection with most modern media is that they sound cool and don't mean anything, so they can be widely applied. Deus Ex is simply menas "God in" and Ex Machina means "in business". Nothing literally means.

DSKekaha

No, "Deus Ex" means "God (or from) ...", and "Ex Machina" individually means "From the machine", that is, "from the machine."

Answers

Andrew Martin

Edited due to many comments giving advice :

Modern meaning

It is currently a simple phrase that exists on English language and is defined as follows:

a character or thing that suddenly enters a story in a novel, play, film, etc. and solves a problem that previously seemed impossible to solve

However, a slightly older value:

a god represented with a crane in ancient Greek and Roman drama to decide the final outcome

Latin translation

The slightly older meaning mentioned is a literal Latin translation of Deus Ex Machina meaning god out of the car. There's a Wikipedia that describes this in much more detail if you're interested, but in short, an actor playing a god or goddess would be demoted on stage by a "mechanic", which was the name of the crane device being used.

Typical use

In modern films, deus ex machina usually refers to some character or plot device that solves all problems at the end of the film (so that everything is a hallucination, for example).

Other interpretations follow typical Greek usage and use the phrase to signify the introduction or presence of a god or goddess.

Connection with the video game Deus Ex

There is no connection between the movie and the game you are describing. Deus Ex is so named because of its association with the already mentioned use of deus ex machina.

Using Ex Machina film

If we remove "Deus" from "Ex Machina", that leaves "out of the machine" [thanks to @ghostdog for pointing this out].

This literally describes Ava. She's out of the car - a creation. This is ideal for literal translation of a phrase.

It can also be argued that her creation by Nathan corresponds to the literal "deus" part of "deus ex machina". He is a god who created something out of a machine that can mimic reality. While @Richard's answers show interviews with the film's directors suggesting the former is all they're aiming for, it's still an interesting interpretation.

Stannius

If Nathan were "deus", wouldn't this phrase be "machina ex deus" (or similar)?

Andrew Martin

@stannius: I won't even try to get into the Latin discussion :) I just took the word "deus" as a direct translation of God to cover a possible interpretation of Nathan's role. I agree that it's clumsy when paired with a whole phrase, so I prefer the literal translation.

Stannius

There is definitely an argument that the roles, or at least the dynamic strength, have changed over the course of the film.

Ismael Miguel

It is worth noting that the "problem" that is being solved is to create a machine that thinks and feels like a human (as the movie says: "[...] It passes the Turing test [...].") You answered perfectly, but you forgot "essence". All this would be meaningless without a purpose, right?

Anonymous

Alex Garland talked about this in an interview with TheFilmStage. The name literally means "Machine" because... er... that's what it's all about, a machine.

TFS: I have read quite a few interviews with you about this film, but I have yet to see anyone ask you about the title itself. Ex Machina. Taken from Deus Ex Machina, so what does all this mean that machine?

A.G. Yes exactly. If you take the Deus Ex prefix, it means that the god is outside the machine.

TFS: I think the title is incredibly important.

A.G.: I agree yes.

TFS: Did you get any response to the title?

A.G.: We really did. Some people thought the name was a bad idea. It's not well known. People don't know how to pronounce it. I really liked this title, but I don’t have the strength to fight for it so hard. Several people involved in the film, notably Scott Rudin and one of the financiers, simply decided that it was the right thing to do and to support the title. The proof that eventually managed to convince people to go with the title was the movie Prometheus. They figured that if they could get Prometheus to work, people would buy Ex Machina. But really, if I'm being completely honest, the point is that it's really a low-budget movie and maybe they just don't care.

He also spoke a bit about the wider implications of this interview with IO9.

We asked Garland if there was an intentional abusive childhood in this film, and that we would raise AI the same way we raise human children, offensively. "That's a really tough question and there's a tough answer to it," Garland said.

“Basically, if I can go back a step, you might know that 'Ex Machina' comes from a larger phrase that was 'deus ex machina' and part of that word is God. And this name excludes the word "God" from this. And some of my thinking has been in line with that... We usually present creation stories as cautionary tales, saying, “Man is not to interfere with God's work. And I wasn't interested in God's part. Thus, hence the "God" of the title."

David Richerby

@Richard It's even more of a shame when the actual answer is incorrect. "Ex machina" does not mean "machine": it means "from [or from] the machine." (I'm not sure if Alex Garland really thinks it means "car" or if he was slightly embarrassed by the question and accidentally agreed with the interviewer that it meant something it didn't.)

Andrew Martin

@DavidRicherby: I think too many of us are focused on exact literal Latin translation. If "deus ex machina" is "god from the machine" and "deus" is "god", it is not a jump to say that "ex-machine" comes from a machine or a machine. It's not exactly grammatically correct, but you can see what the director is aiming for.

Tetsujin

Deus ex machina is a very old theatrical plot device where the characters of the gods would be brought on stage to develop the plot. This meant any "outside influence" on the plot structure that could not be done by the characters themselves.

Its literal meaning "God from the Machine" has been reinterpreted for last years, since the plot device is now almost too well-known to actually use it.

I think the use of this film assumes that the audience is already familiar with the concept, which allows them to take it one step further and just use "out of the machine" to describe Ava's "potential" as a human, not as a machine - as a whole plot device for Ava's perception, this is Nathan's test for Avas' serial check.
Caleb's character is the device by which we detect this.

John Oh

Too famous to really use more? Please tell Hollywood.

Bob Jarvis

In my opinion, "deus ex machina" also has a sub-meaning of "the author is lazy" in the sense that instead of developing the plot correctly, the author uses "... and now a miracle happens", a plot device where all problems are solved, everything turns out for the best and etc., blah.

A.Grandt

Film examples are Deep Impact, Armageddon, and Core. The world is on the brink of disaster and some people or agencies just have the exact tools or knowledge to fix it all. Deep Impact and Armageddon just had special shuttles available to work with, and The Core is just a crazy "lone genius" with all the inventions unknown up to this point. These three are by no means the only films to use this literary cop.

Stannius

The relationship between Ex Machina and Deus Ex is such that both are based on the same original phrase: Deus ex machina. The phrase had special meaning, referring to plays, but both works in question use its literal translation: God from the machine.

Deus Ex, a series of video games, has protagonists who undergo progressive cyborg augmentation. They gain divine powers by adding machines to their bodies. The name is dropped from "Machine", but it is still there and implied.

The former car, the film, omits part of the Deus phrase. I would say that in the end what remains unclear is what emerged from the machine, which is the main female character. God? Devil? Nothing but a program following its instructions? It can also be a game in English "ex": used to be a car, but no more.

eye

After reading all the definitions and considering one of the meanings of "Ex Machina" "outside the machine", your theory may very well be the answer in the context of the movie.

George Kaf

Translated from Greek, "Deus ex machina" translates as "O από μηχανής Θεός", which is a term that arose in ancient Greek dramatic poetry and especially in tragedy.

This meant that God would appear before mortals, usually at the end of the play, which helps the writer finish the play by providing a solution or resolving a rather complicated and impasse situation.

There is more than one theory as to why the term appeared:

1) The actor playing god will be lowered onto the stage of the theater with the help of a wooden crane, he will appear when he descends from heaven.

2) The gods of the Greeks descended to earth in flying chariots and they tried to replicate this effect so that the audience could interpret the divine intervention.

god from the machine

god from the machine
Translation from Latin: Deus ex machina (deus ex machina).
A common technique in ancient drama. If the author of the play found it difficult to find the denouement of his play, then at the end of the play he brought one of the gods of Olympus onto the stage - with the help of mechanical devices, he unexpectedly appeared on the stage and easily resolved all conflicts.
Allegorically:
1. About the unexpected and easy resolution of a difficult situation.
2. About the artificial, strained resolution of the conflict in a work of art.

encyclopedic Dictionary winged words and expressions. - M.: "Lokid-Press". Vadim Serov. 2003 .

See what "God from the Machine" is in other dictionaries:

- “Deus ex machina” (lat. “God from the machine”, [de.ʊs eks maːkʰi.naː]) is an expression that means an unexpected, deliberate denouement of a situation, with the involvement of an external factor that did not previously act in it. AT ancient theater denoted God, ... ... Wikipedia

god from the machine- (lat. "Deus ex machina"). B row antique dramas conflicts were resolved not on the basis of the development of the plot itself, as, for example, in Sophocles in Oedipus Rex, but with the participation and inclusion of the drama of the gods (for example, in Euripides in Iphigenia in ... ... Dictionary of antiquity

Series Lost Title in Russian = God from the Machine Title in original language = Deus Ex Machina Photo: Episode number = Season 1, Episode 19 Hero's Memories = John Locke Day on the Island = 39 − 41 Scriptwriter = Carlton Cuse Damon Lindlof ... ... Wikipedia

What the jungle hides Deus Ex Machina Series of the television series "Lost" Episode number Season 1 Episode 19 Director Robert Mandel Written by Carlton Cuse Damon Lindelof Hero's Memories Locke A day on the island 39 - 41 ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see God (meanings). God of monotheistic cultures basic concepts ... Wikipedia

Exist., m., use. comp. often Morphology: (no) whom? God, to whom? God, (see) whom? God, by whom? God, about whom? about God; pl. who? gods, (no) whom? gods, to whom? gods, (see) whom? gods, by whom? gods, about whom? about the gods 1. God is called the Creator, ... ... Dictionary Dmitrieva

God Emperor of Dune God Emperor of Dune book front cover Author: Frank Herbert Genre: Fantasy Original language: English Original published: May 28, 1981 ... Wikipedia

Project This article is about the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000 Portal Adeptus Mechanicus Form of government Theocracy Official language Lingua technis, higher ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see God Emperor. God Emperor of Dune God Emperor of Dune Genre: Fantasy

Books

• Comics Batman: Detective Comics - God from the machine. Book 4, James Tynion IV, All is calm for the first time in a long time in the life of the Bat-family: Kate, Luke and Jean-Paul go to a basketball game, Casandra and Clayface hone acting skills and Bruce Wayne finds... Category: Comics Series: Batman, Comics Batman, DC Universe Manufacturer: DC Comics,
• God without a car. Stories of 20 crazy people who made business in Russia from scratch, Nikolai Kononov, "God from the Machine" - a plot move in ancient performances: the emergence of a force that solves the problems of heroes. The “machine” was a crane that allowed the “god” actor to “descend from heaven”. Among Russian... Category: Biographies and Memoirs Publisher:

Her narcissism, his mind
Her promised love, deus ex machina
And mastic guns that skull-bind

She didn't wanna know. She fucking never know
She told him lies and raised the deus ex machina
She didn't wanna know, said she could never grow
She sold demise and raised the child a would believer
Her last incision, the last guess
Dementia? Love! Deus ex machina
Flip out the guns and skull fire
A frail love, deus ex machina
She didn't wanna know and loves a wicked soul!
Her cold disguise now raise a deus ex machina
She didn't wanna show, said she could never grow
She told him lies, depraved the child a would believer…
With salt to the sores we'll make lovers.
Like salt to the sores, yeah great lovers.
Like guests to the grave of the dead, the dead lovers…


Now take your woes to the alter and sing dead praise…
She grappled hate around my spleen, dissever lust, she numbed my dream,
never leave, desire, fervour, ardour
And like a deus ex machina she ground mind, growing clearer… you’ll always feel
amor
Her narcissism her foul mind, her promised love…
Her narcissism her dead foul mind, her dead promised love…
Did you feel loved? Did you ever burn Avalon?
A taste of real blood to numb the lovers…
I'll cast an eye; she's so dirty, rescinded grace...
Ezekiel's vision from the cherubim and eyed wheel revolution, revelation
apocalypse-looms
Did you feel loved? Did you ever burn Avalon?
A taste of real blood to numb the lovers…
She'll take control, we've been altered, dead faces fade...

ardour

feel amor
And like a deus ex machina she ground my mind, growing clearer, desire fervour
ardour
And like a deus ex machina she ground my mind, growing clearer, you'll always
be my love

Translation of the song

Her narcissism, his dirty mind
Her promised love, deus ex machina
And mastic cannons that are linked to the skull

She didn't want to know. She never fucking knows
She told him lies and raised deus ex machina
She didn't want to know, said she could never grow up
She sold demise and raised a child a believer
Her last cut, last look
Dementia? I love! Deus Ex Machina
Turn out the guns and fire the skull
Fragile love, deus ex machina
She did not want to know and loves an evil soul!
Her cold disguise now raises a deus ex machina
She didn't want to show, said she could never grow up
She told him lies, corrupted the child, would have believed...
With salt to sores, we'll make lovers.
Like salt to ulcers, yes, great lovers.
Like guests at the grave of the dead, dead lovers...


Now take your troubles to the altar and eat dead praise...
She grabbed the hate around my spleen, abused lust, she numbed my dream,
Never leave, desire, ardor, ardor
And, like a deus ex machina, it spreads the mind, becoming more and more clear... you will always feel
amor
Her narcissism - her dirty mind, her promised love...
Her narcissism, her dead dirty mind, her dead promised love...
Did you feel loved? Have you ever burned Avalon?
A taste of real blood to overwhelm lovers...
I'll take a look; She's such a dirty, undone grace...
Ezekiel's vision from the revolution of cherubs and eye wheels, revelation
Apocalypse loom
Did you feel loved? Have you ever burned Avalon?
A taste of real blood to overwhelm lovers...
She'll take control, we've changed, the dead faces are gone...

ardor

feel like an amor
And, like a deus ex machina, she expounded my mind, grew clearer, longed for
ardor
And like a deus ex machina she swung my mind ever clearer you will always be
be my love

The expression "deus ex machina" is translated from Latin as "God from the machine" and means sudden intervention in other people's affairs from outside. This Latin phrase was first used in plays, or rather in ancient Greek tragedies. When, at the end of the action, the god descended onto the stage, drawn down by a special technical device (machina), and casually resolved all issues.

The same can be attributed to remakes and sequels of popular films. You have probably noticed that the subsequent series, as such, are much more boring than their talented predecessors. And the thing is that the director who decides to make a sequel has almost no choice.

First option. He can pick up the past system at point "A" and send it to point "B", guided by the internal logic of the system. However, this will only lead to an increase in errors and absurdities, and to terrible boredom for an inquisitive viewer.

Second option. If he has the courage, he will simply break the vicious circle, adding additional circumstances to the plot that should break the old system. An example is the two different universes of Aliens and Predators that were brought together in the movie Alien vs. Predator.

Use of the idiom "deus ex machina"

"I didn't come to visit you, I, father, came to you in the manner of deus ex machina..."
("Holy simplicity" Chekhov)

"... Taking advantage of his nephew's poverty, this pleasant gentleman deus ex machina buys Masha from him"
("Niece" I. Turgenev)

"... When the new government arrived at the town hall, like a deus ex machina, he was categorically against his election"
("The Past and Thoughts" Herzen)

"... the denouement happened just as randomly and accidentally, this thunderstorm that scared Katerina so much ... it's nothing more than a deus ex machina"
("A ray of light in dark kingdom"Dobrolyubov"

"When an author is so poor, it turns out quite naturally to tie a new knot or untie a new one, he now has a deus ex machina"
("A look at Russian literature of 1846" Belinsky)

"... A lot of strange things, often events can only be resolved with the help of deus ex machina"
(About the Dollmaker's novel; Belinsky)

"... a gentleman named Proudhon makes it much easier, he allows the owner to interfere in his affairs, which arises like a deus ex machina"
("The Poverty of Philosophy" K. Marx)