Finally got around to seeing Spike Jonze's latest short film 'I'm Here', a half-hour masterpiece about love and robots in L.A., based on Shel Silverstein's (of whom the main character is named after) 'The Giving Tree'.Sheldon is a robot who lives an uneventful life in a society where robots and humans coexisting is commonplace. He works at a library, takes the bus, sits in his sparsely furnished apartment, recharges, then does it all over again the next day. Then by a chance meeting he comes in contact with Francesca, a robot who dreams, drives, listens to music, and collects tissue paper to mold into a family of rats. As you can guess Sheldon fall head-over robot heels in love and in no time Francesca shows him everything he's been missing out on.
As the movie progressed, not unlike the tree in the book, Francesca begins to lose herself. And I mean literally. First she loses her left arm in the audience of a concert hall, then later she loses her right leg in some unknown accident, and even later on she loses much, much more. But for every limb and ligament detached from her body Sheldon offers up his in return.
It's such a raw, heartfelt, heart-breaking film that deserves to be seen and appreciated. I'd urge everyone who reads this to give it a try.
Accompanying the movie is quite the soundtrack. With Sleigh Bells 'A/B Machines' and 'Crown On The Ground' blasting on car stereos, Girls' 'Hellhole Ratrace' appropriately playing at a party, and faux-band The Lost Trees accompanied by Aska Matsumiya and the movie's obvious theme song 'There Are Many of Us' which is used frequently and to great effect.
