Her (2013) Directed by Spike Jonze. Starring:Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson (voice only), Rooney Mara, Amy Adams. IMDB says: “A lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his newly purchased operating system that’s designed to meet his every need.”
The romance genre is a facet of cinema that has barely evolved, changed, or altered since its conception. That’s a widely generalised statement, but typically most romantic dramas are generic, forgettable films with interchangeable characters, replicable plots, and little variation. This is not necessarily the genre’s fault, it’s more the fact there is a still a huge demographic for romantic dramas and rom-coms, that the industry feels obliged to meet. There’s very little exploration or experimentation outside of the boy meets girl archetype, simply because there’s only so much that audiences will want to see. Boy meets girl, boy meets boy, girl meets girl, boy reflects on his past relationship with girl, boy meets girl but she’s actually a boy, etc. However, all of these statements are null and void with the arrival of Spike Jonze’s Her, which is quintessentially different and thoughtful to the core.
Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely, soon to be divorcee who writes personal love letters for a living. He struggles to come to terms with losing Catherine (Rooney Mara) and has since become an introvert as a result of his failed marriage. Theodore soon installs a new operating system that is apparently tailored to his needs. The operating system has an artificial intelligence and is capable of learning from its experiences. After a failed blind date that old friend Aimee (Amy Adams) set him up with, Theodore seeks comfort from his operating system, now known as Samantha (voice of Scarlett Johansson). Theodore begins to fall in love with Samantha, as the AI claims that the romantic feelings are mutual. As the two fall more in love, the expected complications and limitations in loving a piece of software begin to occur.
Initially, it’s easy to understand why the concept might not immediately appeal, or interest some audiences. The question arises of how could you possibly be able to depict human/computer romance effectively? Yet somehow, Spike Jonze pulls it off, and sticks the landing. The dialogue is just human enough that the romance works, gradually we see Samantha become more and more capable of romantic feelings, yet the true mastery in Jonze’s film is the way he shows two entities in love. By giving her eyes and a personality, it’s hard to ignore Scarlett Johansson’s alluring voice as a definitive presence. Their altercation is not only verbal, as they progress to ‘intercourse’, then naively attempt to fantasize about the concept of Samantha being human whilst using a surrogate human to emulate her body. The relationship is finalized with typically human problems and complications, as minor issues turn into full blown arguments. Spike Jonze’s use of cinematography and location makes Her as aesthetically stunning film, his script forms it into an intellectually and emotionally stimulating piece of art, whilst music and cast define it as an unavoidable milestone in cinema.
Some cynics will always describe the concept behind Her as absurd, and here is why it isn’t so ludicrous. We live in a society where technology is key. We may not be willing to fornicate with our macs; but we’re certainly dependent on our laptops, we’re certainly reliant on digital entertainment and internet, and we’re certainly married to our phones. The digital age is here, and people have never been so disconnected with the outside world or social interaction on a mass scale. The idea of man and machine has been attempted before in film and literature, but never before has the context been so ripe, or the story so well told. Nor has it before approached it simply as a romantic drama, choosing not to dwell so much on the technological or science fiction elements, as much as the Bicentennial Man, for example.
Jonze’s film is powerful food for thought, and nourishment for the soul. Her is a a film of such a high calibre, that only a perfect amalgamation of direction, script, cast, score and form could have resulted in such a resounding success. Her is a mould-breaking, genre-defining, heart-warming film that in an ideal world, would win the Academy Award for Best Picture. I highly recommend it.
