I Just Read About That…

[WATCHED: September 5, 2010] I’m Here

I’m Here is the new short film that Spike Jonze directed.  (You can read more about the story behind the film at my post about the accompanying book There Are Many Of Us.) And you can see the whole film and much more at the official site.

The film is 30 minutes long and it is surprisingly touching.  Surprisingly especially because the main characters are robots.  The robots are wonderfully designed (they’re not animated, they are people with plastic coverings and fantastic heads–the main male robot’s head is made from an old Macintosh computer).  I assume there is CGI for the mouths (they look too fluid to be anything else), but the rest of the movie is very old school.

As the film opens, we see Sheldon, who works in a library (as a shelver) who seems content and who seems to be making the best of things.  The other robots that we see live in what seems like a kind of narcotic state (plugging themselves in to recharge at night).  One morning, while he’s waiting for the bus (because robots can’t drive), he sees a robot driving a car.  She is a beautiful robot, and we see them share a moment across the busy street.  And since this is short film, you know they are destined to be together.

The robots share tender moments (their substitute for kissing is very sweet) as well as rocking moments (they go to a Lost Trees concert together).  We get to see a bit of their inner lives as well.  And the two form an intense bond.  

The rest of the film explores how much you will sacrifice for love.  And as I said, it’s really moving.

Spike Jonze’s films are often clever, and this one is no exception.  The story wouldn’t work (the way it does) if they weren’t robots.  And yet, he imbues so much humanity in these robots that you forget they are mechanical.

What also works very well in the film (which he says was originally supposed to be about 6 minutes) is that the rest of the background (the ambient creation) is very well developed.  The look of the film (the scene of the car accident is quite striking), even the characters who don’t speak seem very appropriate for the film.   And, there are non-robots in this world, too.  Humans and robots intermingle with nary a second glance.  It’s quite a complex society he has created.

The soundtrack is really good as well.  Thank goodness for short films!

My only caveat: if you get the DVD with the book, be sure to watch the film first!  The book is a behind the scenes of the movie and while it doesn’t explicitly state what happens in the movie, enough is mentioned that some of the emotional impact is lost.