Employing a similar emotional aesthetic and texture of the ones evinced in “Where The Wild Things Are,” a fixated Spike Jonze seems to be engrossed in exploring the wounded tendencies of the emotionally fragile in his latest, the 35-minute short, “I’m Here.”
Set in contemporary L.A., where everything is rather normal as it is now, save for the existence of robots around regular human beings, the wistful short film centers on two different robots, Sheldon the bashful, sweet library assistant played by Andrew Garfield (“Boy A,” “The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus”) and the more free spirited and flirtatious Annie played by Sienna Guillory (“Eragon”)
After a few brief interactions at an intersection where Sheldon takes the bus to work, Annie’s friends eventually tease her into inviting the sweater-wearing robot boy for a ride and soon the pair are gallivanting around at a party she invites him to and the tentative and soft courting begins.
Awkward and introverted, Annie’s manic spirit tends to bring Sheldon out of his shell. And these initially flirtatious, getting to know each other sequences are as intoxicating and genuinely thrilling as as any real moment of blushing stomach-butterfly crushes.
Jonze has a real knack for demonstrating the exhilarating euphoria of falling in love, with a super sigh-worthy atmosphere that includes dreamy music (an awesome swoony score by Aska Matsumiya and Squeak E. Clean that rivals anything Karen O & The Kids produced — a soundtrack will be released later this year), sun-stroked cinematography and music-video-y editing that conveys a sense of incandescent playfulness. Jonze is clearly in his element in these wonderfully sweet scenes.
However, like the dolorous pangs of melancholy demonstrated in ‘Wild Things,’ the filmmaker seems to say that true love can come at a deep and painful cost and the short takes on a much darker tone when Annie’s
clumsiness precipitates the loss of a limb at a rock concert (which features the Lost Trees band that is members of the Moonrats and featuring Aska Matsumiya).
Lovelorn and loyal Sheldon quickly does his tech magic and gives Annie his arm as a replacement, but as her physical ineptitude gets worse so do Sheldon’s corporeal sacrifices which again seem to suggest and caution that the price of love might just be too steep.
So while the picture becomes quite lugubrious and depressive, there’s still a bittersweet, super romantic and inspired sense of wonder and beauty to it all that resonates deeply. Jonze seems highly attuned to the melancholy and infinite sadness of the world and “I’m Here” acts as a beautifully magnetic rod to these forlorn sensibilities.
Visually, the lensing is quite beatific, especially any moments of lens-flared love and the special effects of the characters are also deeply, painfully expressive. It’s quite startling how much is transmitted through the animated eyes of these characters. Its also incredible how simple elements like the perennial ache in Andrew Garfield’s voice conveys so much emotion.
Boasting a strong soundtrack (that features Of Montreal, Animal Collective and Gui Boratto), Jonze’s film explores the delicate balance between loneliness and longing of the early stages of love with great insight and sensitivity. While Jonze is clearly preoccupied with a certain mood of late and themes of heartache and loss, his emotional exploration of this territory have never been more heartfelt and genuine. [A]
BTW, the film is now available online and can be seen on the movie’s official website. Yes, it’s sponsored by Absolut Vodka, but other than a brief title care that is no different from a studio title card at the beginning, Absolut has absolutely nothing to do with the short other than they were the ones that bankrolled it.