American Eccentrics Strike Back
Im Here
Directed by Spike Jonze
[At IFC Center, Sept. 24 ]
Runtime: 29 min.
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Gahoole
Directed by Zack Snyder
Runtime: 90 min.
Almost a hundred years ago, short story paragon O. Henry wrote The Gift of the Magi, a poignant and penetrating love story that was as much a religious allegory as a penetrating commentary on industrial age values. Spike Jonzes new short film Im Here joins that tradition. Its romance between robots quirkily defines the era. (It screens [Sept. 24 at IFC Center] and will be available as part of a multi-format DVD/ CD/book project from [McSweeneys titled There Are Many of Us](http://store.mcsweeneys.net/index.cfm/fuseaction/catalog.detail/object_id/6c063296-7d89-422f-9ee8-2fad7dcd5fbb/ThereAreManyOfUsBookDVDCD.cfm).)
Sheldon is what hipsters used to call a square, his boxlike head resembles an early-model computer hard-drive tower, while hipster Francesca is sleek and biomorphic. Considering their species, the couples mutual attraction is (perfectly) spiritual. Their progressionfrom interest, flirtation, on to intimacy, then sacrifice charts the romance of marginals. It gets to the heart of human relations as most hipster cinema is afraid to do. That is its power and charm.
Literally alienated by technology, these robots overwhelm their design and reach each others soulsan avantgarde fulfillment of Chris Cunninghams All Is Full of Love music video and Jonzes Triumph of a Heart music video (both are Bjork songs, and she is this films art-pixie patron saint). The robots have British accents (voiced by Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory), which avoids the American smugness of 500 Days of Summer and helps convey estrangement and a sense of anomie in Los Angeles. This cleverly portrays the alienation from feeling that has become a curse on modern film culture. The problem hiding behind fashionable nihilism is the digital ages immature fear of emotion and sentiment. Jonzes breakthrough should prove as timeless as O. Henrys classic tale.
Jonze and Sonny Gerasimowicz, the designer of the robot, convey Sheldon and Francescas eyes and mouth gestures via old-fashioned animation that resembles drawn-on doodles or graffiti, signatures of personal expression and feeling. These faces recall the oversized stuffed animals of Where the Wild Things Are (also designed by Gerasimowicz), which also came to mind during Zack Snyders amazing Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Gahoole. Its perfect pop synchronicity.
As in 300, Snyders bold, animated artistry portrays a trenchant sense of character: good, evil, heroism and cowardice are beautifully abstracted. The Owl faceslarge, flat with wide jewel-like green, blue, gold or black eyesrelay as much meaning and thought as watching human faces.
Snyders animal fantasy (from a book series by Australian novelist Kathryn Lasky) is a childrens moral tale about two owl brothersSoren and Kludd (voiced by Jim Sturgess and Ryan Kwanten)divided by ambition and curiosity, who join the Guardian owls battle against the evil aggressive Pure Ones. Instead of facile political parallels, Snyder (like Jonze) cuts to the emotional core. Both directors use animated fantasy to achieve abstract clarity.
Working with the animation production team that did Happy Feet, Snyder achieves visual marvels: from Bierstadt landscapes to Turner skyscapes, this is grave, majestic filmmaking, far from the slapstick of Ice Age or the cynical schmaltz of Wall-E. Snyder employs 3-D ideally, to give the owls solidity and buoyancy. Lovely touches like Sorens flying lesson show his feathery wings flapping but also flipping the pages of an ancient text; the image ingeniously measures physical against intellectual effort.
Thats why Im Here and Legends of the Guardians highlight the week. They are two of the years most creative film achievements, using ingenuity to explore common, primal aspiration. When Sheldon commits himself to O. Henrystyle sacrifice, Francesca asks, Dont I have a choice? Sheldon answers with a pledge, the most moving lines from Adaptation, the film that threw Jonze off track. Now Jones is soaring. Similarly, Snyders wildlife adventure returns him to genius: extreme, dream-like action cinema that expresses his pop-art faith. Our dreams are who we are, Soren says. Just because you cant see something doesnt mean it isnt real. Despite competing art and commercial origins, both films represent different approaches to the question of why mankind creates. The answer comes in Jonzes American Eccentrics title.