This summer, a big budget Will Smith film called I, Robot will be released; it is, ostensibly, based on Isaac Asimov's classic sci-fi novel of the same name. I haven't read the book, but from what I do know of Asimov, his work generally did not contain many chase scenes, explosions or witty one-liners; its focus, rather, was on the science part of science fiction, and how it affects human life.

Greg Pak's Robot Stories takes the same approach. A quartet of short films, it falls under the category of science fiction, but there are no CGI robots or spaceships; the films are simple and intimate, and their sci-fi elements have more to do with ideas than with futuristic devices (he even goes so far as to have all the characters in the stories use antiquated computer equipment, a touch which underscores the limitations of technology).

The first segment, Robot Baby, is about a successful couple (Tamlyn Tomita and James Saito) who want to adopt a child; the adoption agency puts them on a probation period, during which they must care for a robot baby that will record their parenting skills and determine if they can appropriately care for a real child. The baby looks like humpty dumpty, with scant anthropomorphic features, but it acts like a real child, and even leaks graphite to give its caretakers the experience of changing diapers.

At first, as the parents try to adapt to their new charge, one might be reminded of the early parts of Spielberg's A.I. This story, though, is not about this electronic infant but about the parents; the baby is simply the instigator for some serious personal growth on the part of the mother, who rediscovers a world of buried childhood hurt.

The following segments follow suit, using robots as a catalyst for very human stories. The most emotional one is about a mother (Wai Ching Ho) who discovers her estranged son has been in a car accident and is now comatose, with his condition steadily worsening. Finding an old box of robot action figures in his room, she attempts to bridge their gap by restoring the collection to their original condition; we watch how she transfers her love and concern for her son over to the toys, and realize before she does why he distanced himself from her in the first place.

Pak, who before making this feature won a Student Oscar for his short film work, approaches these stories so economically that the emotional punch they deliver is rather unexpected; he rarely halts for exposition, which is especially impressive in the story in which he also acts, Robot Love, in which two androids fall in love. These robots -- iPersons, as they're packaging calls them -- are humanoid drones programmed to tear through menial office tasks. They have a programmed vocabulary, and are able to learn new words and concepts related to their workplace. The male and female androids in this story are both employed at corporate offices in neighboring skyscrapers, and they glance at each other each night while they work. Without any dialogue, without anything more than pensive glances, Pak builds up a sense of deep yearning. When they finally do meet, and are able to only communicate in the detrimental lingo they picked up from their far less emotional human co-workers, the effect is rather profound. And it's funny, too; Pak maintains a gracefully light touch that augments the depth of his stories.

The film is of a no-budget nature, shot on miniDV, particulars which are of course more condusive to acting and storytelling than special effects; Pak obviously understood the limitations he was working with, and was confident enough to venture into this territory without the aid of any of the more conventional and possibly detrimental science fiction trappings (if you've seen any low budget films with bottom-line CGI effects, you know what I'm talking about). What he's produced is simple and unique, and its clearly struck some sort of chord with people; it has played at countless film festivals over the past two years, some of them Asian or fantasy themed but many of no specific category. This is not surprising: Robot Stories is a film whose appeal far outreaches the boundaries of its genre conceit. And I imagine -- or at least hope -- this film will be more appealing to sophisticated sci-fi fans than most of what hundreds of millions of dollars and big movie stars provide these days.