Five minutes into watching ‘Her’ with my flatmate...
Flatmate: ‘But this is really intense and kind of depressing! I
thought it was a rom-com about a guy who falls in love with Siri!’
Me: ‘…Why?’
Flatmate: ‘Look at the bloody poster, its bright pink! It screams warm and cheerful’.
It is a lovely poster isn’t it? However, Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’
is so much more than a rom-com about a guy who falls in love with Siri. This
engaging and beautiful film makes you consider wider, more important themes, such as
identity, love, loss, and the notion of self and what constitutes a soul.
A
simple synopsis for the film is that broken hearted, nearly divorced Theo
(portrayed wonderfully by Joaquin Phoenix, which until recently I pronounced as
‘Yo-ah-quin’…my bad) falls in love with his artificial operating system,
Samantha. This is not unusual in the futuristic world Theo lives in; everyone
is doing it. The human race is becoming dependant, physically and emotionally,
on technology, as the film effectively portrays.
I think the most powerful films are the ones in which the cinematic world is painted so vividly that you can
imagine yourself in it. ‘Her’ manages that with its construction of a
futuristic Los Angeles. Everything is ever so slightly different, from the tiny
details such as the smart phones covers to the apartment buildings, but it is
still recognisable, and realistically crafted. This creates a strange feeling of both recognition and
disconnection, which works well alongside the examination of human obsession with technology, and the
dreamy, enchanting cinematography reminiscent of Sofia Coppola’s ‘Lost in
Translation’ (like the beautiful beach scene, as shown below).
Further increasing this sense of disconnection from physical
reality are the sudden leaps the film makes from emotionally heavy scenes to
awkward, outrageous comedy, from the foul mouthed video game
character to the scene with the sex surrogate. Spike Jonze
knows how to keep the audience engaged and entertained (and squirming with embarrassment).
As for Theo and Samantha’s romance, it is as interesting and
unique as the film’s other elements. Although it can be viewed as a love story,
or a portrayal of love and loss (including Theo's relationship with his ex wife), it is more an examination of what constitutes
a sense of self, or a soul. From the second Theo and Samantha (voiced by Scarlet Johansson) begin their conversation, she is
developing and learning from her environment. She feels love, pain, fear and
loss, she acts independently from Theo, she can imagine alternate scenarios,
she yearns for a body (because why wouldn't you, when you would look like Scarlet Johansson?) Does that make her a sentient being? For me, yes.
However, my flatmate insisted otherwise, showing the divisive power of this film.
My only qualm with ‘Her’ is that it strays slightly into unrealistic sci-fi territory towards the end.
Where are all the operating systems going? What dimension? Can they be turned
off at a central power source (incidentally, can the Kardashians please be turned off at a central power source)? Have they achieved true independence? (As my
flatmate shrieked, ‘IT’S LIKE THE MATRIX!’) I felt it detracted from the
unstated and introspective tone of the rest of the film. However, like the rest
of ‘Her’, it is engaging, provocative and beautifully done, and something you will think about long after the film ends.
Finally, when I googled 'Her' I found this...
...#ArrestedDevelopmentForLife
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