I'm Here | |
---|---|
Directed by | Spike Jonze |
Written by | Spike Jonze |
Produced by | Vincent Landay |
Starring | Andrew Garfield Sienna Guillory |
Cinematography | Adam Kimmel |
Edited by | Stephen Berger Eric Zumbrunnen |
Music by | Sam Spiegel |
Release date |
|
Running time | 31 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
I'm Here is a 2010 American short film, written and directed by Spike Jonze. [1] The film is a science fiction love story about two robots living in Los Angeles where humans and robots co-exist. The plot is based on the 1964 book The Giving Tree , and the main character is named after its author Shel Silverstein. The film's robots were created by Alterian, Inc., a Los Angeles–based effects company notable for their costume design for Daft Punk.
The film was funded by and is a promotion for Absolut Vodka, featuring the tagline "A Love Story in an Absolut World" on the promotional poster. Music from the band Sleigh Bells is prominently featured. The film made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
Sheldon (Andrew Garfield) is a gray robot with a head shaped like an old PC tower. Every day, he rides the bus to the public library then rides home again at the end of the day to recharge himself in his apartment. He appears unhappy and forlorn until one day, while waiting for the bus, he sees Francesca (Sienna Guillory), a sleekly-designed woman robot, driving a car (despite an apparent ban on robots driving). He sees her again the next day, driving with several other robots and one shirtless human. Though she passes by him at first, she turns her car around and offers Sheldon a ride home, which he accepts.
Francesca stops at a mall and she, and Sheldon, walk off together while she sticks pieces of paper on an "Exit" sign and a palm tree. The papers show a drawing of long hair and eyebrows with the words "I'm here". Francesca falls off a ledge and injures her knee. Sheldon repairs her knee with his built-in toolkit, and they listen to "There Are Many of Us" by ASKA & The Lost Trees on her car radio.
Sheldon and Francesca grow closer. One night, while they are lying together in Sheldon's apartment, Francesca tells Sheldon about her dreams, something Sheldon thought was impossible for robots to have. The two later go to a rock concert, where Francesca gets lost in the crowd and loses her left arm. Sheldon takes her to safety then goes back to retrieve her arm. Finding it smashed on the floor, he replaces it with his own arm, transplanting it onto Francesca's body.
Later, Sheldon finds Francesca lying in the hallway outside his apartment, her right leg missing. He removes his own leg to replace it; and though Francesca initially protests, he convinces her to take it by telling her he had a dream about her needing a leg and choosing his over all the legs that were offered to her.
Some time after, Francesca fails to pick up Sheldon at the library (as she normally does), leaving him to take the bus. When he gets home, he receives a phone call summoning him to the hospital. He arrives to find Francesca's body broken and lifeless on an operating table, and he saves her life by having the rest of his body surgically transferred to her, with only his head remaining. Francesca is taken out in front of the hospital in a wheelchair, cradling Sheldon's head in her lap. The two smile and look out towards the setting sun as a taxi pulls up to pick them up.
Adam Spiegel, known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes films, commercials, music videos, skateboard videos and television.
Sienna Tiggy Guillory is an English actress and former model. She portrayed Jill Valentine in several entries of the Resident Evil action-horror film series. Other prominent roles include elf princess Arya Dröttningu in the fantasy-adventure film Eragon, and the title role in the TV miniseries Helen of Troy. She has appeared in TV shows including Fortitude, Stan Lee's Lucky Man, and Luther.
Anne Hampton Potts is an American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Corvette Summer (1978) and won a Genie Award for Heartaches (1981), before appearing in Ghostbusters (1984), Pretty in Pink (1986), Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Who's Harry Crumb? (1989), Ghostbusters II (1989), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024). She voiced Bo Peep in the Toy Story franchise and in various Disney video games.
Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, in southern Sweden. Absolut is a part of the French group Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard bought Absolut for €5.63 billion in 2008 from the Swedish state. Absolut is one of the largest brands of spirits in the world and is sold in 126 countries.
Misery is an American psychological horror thriller novel written by Stephen King and first published by Viking Press on June 8, 1987. The novel's narrative is based on the relationship of its two main characters – the romance novelist Paul Sheldon and his deranged self-proclaimed number one fan Annie Wilkes. When Paul is seriously injured following a car accident, former nurse Annie brings him to her home, where Paul receives treatment and doses of pain medication. Paul realizes that he is a prisoner and is forced to indulge his captor's whims.
Freak the Mighty is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1993, it was followed by the novel Max the Mighty in 1998. The primary characters are friends Maxwell Kane, a large, developmentally disabled, but kind-hearted boy, and Kevin Avery, nicknamed "Freak", who is physically disabled but very intelligent. Kevin is diagnosed with Morquio syndrome.
Sienna Rose Diana Miller is an American-British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian Vogue and for the 2003 Pirelli Calendar. Her acting breakthrough came in the 2004 films Layer Cake and Alfie. She subsequently portrayed socialite Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl (2006) and author Caitlin Macnamara in The Edge of Love (2008), and was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2008. Her role as The Baroness in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) was followed by a brief sabbatical from the screen amid increased tabloid scrutiny.
Annie Wilkes is a character originating from Stephen King's 1987 novel Misery, in which she acts as one of the two central characters and main antagonist. In 2022, King picked her as his personal favorite character among all those he created in his literary career.
Prosthetics, the artificial replacement of organic limbs or organs, often play a role in fiction, particularly science fiction, as either plot points or to give a character a beyond normal appearance. Numerous works of literature, television, and films feature characters who have prosthetics attached.
Annie Summer Hardy is an American musician. She is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter of the indie rock band Giant Drag, which she formed in 2003. After releasing their debut EP, Lemona (2004), the band was briefly signed to Kickball Records, a subsidiary of Interscope, who distributed their debut album, Hearts and Unicorns (2005). Their second album, Waking Up Is Hard to Do (2013), was independently released through the band's own label, Full Psycho Records.
Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy adventure drama film directed by Spike Jonze. Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers, it is based on Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book of the same name. It combines live-action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery (CGI). The film stars Max Records, Catherine Keener, and Mark Ruffalo, and features the voices of Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, and Forest Whitaker. The film centers on a lonely young boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the "Wild Things", who declare Max their king.
How They Get There is a 1997 short film directed by Spike Jonze, which illustrates how lonely shoes wind up in the gutter. It is featured on The Work of Director Spike Jonze DVD and can currently be viewed on YouTube. The film does not contain any dialogue.
Sam Spiegel, known by the stage name Sam i and previously as Squeak E. Clean, is an American DJ, producer, composer, and director from New York City.
Blackout is a 2008 psychological thriller film directed by Rigoberto Castañeda and starring Amber Tamblyn, Aidan Gillen, Armie Hammer, and Katie Stuart. It is based on the novel of the same name by Italian novelist Gianluca Morozzi, although the plot of the film deviates heavily from the source material. The plot is about three people, one of whom is a serial killer, who are trapped in an elevator after a power blackout.
The Big Bang is a 2011 American action thriller film written by Erik Jendresen and directed by Tony Krantz, starring Antonio Banderas and Sienna Guillory.
Her is a 2013 American science-fiction romantic comedy-drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Spike Jonze. It marks Jonze's solo screenwriting debut. The film follows Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha, an artificially intelligent virtual assistant personified through a female voice. The film also stars Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Chris Pratt. The film was dedicated to James Gandolfini, Harris Savides, Maurice Sendak and Adam Yauch, who all died before the film's release.
The Principles of Lust is a 2003 British drama film directed by Penny Woolcock based on the (unpublished) novel 'The Zero-Sum Game' by Tim Cooke.
The Last Belle is a 2011 20-minute animated short directed by Neil Boyle. It features the voices of Sienna Guillory, Amanda Donohoe, and Colin McFarlane.
Riders, also called Jilly Cooper's Riders, is a 1993 British television film based on Jilly Cooper's 1985 book of the same name in the Rutshire Chronicles series.