“Her” (2013)
Alexa — Please show me a dystopian future.
Alexa — Please show me a dystopian future.
Jumping around with timelines as I am oft to do (I’ve clearly watched far too many Christopher Nolan movies), here’s the 2021 update you’ll find at the denouement of this re-release of an article and film review I originally penned in 2014 and am now reproducing as a stand alone article 11 days before we enter the year 2023:
2021 Postscript: This blog was originally published exactly 7 years and 15 days ago. Read Her again and shudder at where we were technologically 7 years ago, and then tell Alexa to play you some Radiohead whilst you check your Facebook feed.
See you in another 7 years!
Not Shakespeare I’ll grant you, but do you remember in the year 2014 ever imagining walking around your house and asking a black box in the corner of the room to play “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd or asking that strange box of witchcraft doom what the weather forecast was for a week’s time in Corsica, and in time for your annual family holiday? 2021 was the 7 year anniversary of my original writing of the spoiler free review you’re about to read, so where we will be, technologically, in another 7 years time?
“I think therefore I am” — Renee Descartes, 17th Century French Philosopher
Her is the fourth and final film review of the cinematic career so far of director Spike Jonze, and is contained within my original blog article linked at the bottom of this paragraph. I’m old enough to have fallen in love with Being John Malkovich on it’s original release in 1999, similarly so Adaptation 3 years later and as a relatively new parent, Where the Wild Things Are in 2009 was an easy sell to my beautiful son. Her remains Spike Jonze’s fourth major cinematic release as a director as since its release in 2013 he’s returned to his first love of music videos and short films but as I hope I convey in the larger article below, there are four absolute gems for your movie consideration.
Since breaking everyone’s hearts here as a solitary loner bewildered by a love and desperate need for a remote computer O/S (Operating System), the superlative and often otherworldly acting skills of Joaquin Phoenix have propelled him into the stratosphere of Hollywood success. Following his third Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a shell shocked returning army veteran who meets his spiritual nemesis in Paul Thomas Anderson’s incredible Scientology inspired The Master in 2013, it would be that lucky number 7 again and 7 years later for Oscar success at last as the repugnant and out of control Joker in 2020. As my “Film” archives here will demonstrate, I’m myopically biased in all matters Joaquin Phoenix, and so you will find (should you wish) spoiler free love-in appraisals of his awkward stoner detective in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice from 2014 as well as last year’s superb C’mon C’mon directed by Mike Mills. I’m also a huge fan of the director Lynne Ramsay (see Film archives!) and suffice to say she directs Joaquin Phoenix to the brink and beyond in 2017’s You Were Never Really Here.
I adore this film and I adore the three others that are included within the larger blog article below. But here’s Her re-produced as written over 8 years ago now, and I hope you enjoy reading my musings and ramblings on an incredible view into the past/future/future past? I did say I’ve watched a LOT of Christopher Nolan films!
Spike Jonze — 4 twisted love stories for your consideration
“Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation”, “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Her”. All lovingly appreciated and spoiler free.medium.com
“The past is just a story we tell ourselves”
Following his previous collaborations with Charlie Kaufman and Dave Eggers, Her was Spike Jonze’s first solo screenplay and one which earned him his first Oscar success in 2014 for Best Original Screenplay. Her is certainly original in every sense and equally highly prescient in the overriding themes it tackles of an ever increasing technologically connected world but one in which human beings are more and more disconnected from ourselves, each other and of the day to day reality of the real world, and of our “marriage” to laptops, computers and smart phones that despite the great advantages these pieces of technology provide, also erect tangible barriers that these technological advances also create. But despite our, and the film’s, over dependency on the technology that surrounds and envelops us, Her has a real human story at it’s heart, two brilliant central performances set amid vivid and crystal clear cinematography from Director of Photography Hoyte Van Hoytema and a beautiful accompanying musical soundtrack from Canadian Indie rock band Arcade Fire.
The film is set in a near future world but rather than flying cars being the overall signifier of a said near future it is technologically driven and rather than today’s fast becoming obsolete practice of interacting with busy fingers on a laptop or smart phone screen, everything is voice activated with audio directly into the ears via a smart ear bud. Life in Her is seemingly familiar to today, however in Spike Jonze’s view of a near future many people have invested in a brand new, all purpose “O/S” or “Operating System” that they remain connected to throughout the day. Thus people of the near future seem to be constantly talking to themselves however they’re connected to, and interacting with, their O/S which, the developers are keen to reinforce in their advertisements, is “not just an Operating System, but a consciousness”. The O/S actively develops and evolves with human interaction and experience, quickly becoming more and more human like while blurring the lines between flesh and blood human beings and a complex computer operating system.
Fresh from his Oscar nominated performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s magnificent The Master, Joaquin Phoenix turns in yet another pitch perfect performance in a leading role here as “Theodore”, a highly regarded love letter writer (Letter Writer 612) for BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com. He may regard his pieces as “just letters” however it’s quickly and evidently established that Theodore knows the recipients of his letters very well indeed having written on behalf of the same people for many years.
Casting aside the disconnected aspect of this practice (for human disconnection runs as a constant theme throughout the film) it’s more evident that Theodore himself is disconnected from the world, ostensibly stuck in his semi futuristic cubicle dictating love letters that albeit heartfelt, are simply a daily task that leaves him somewhat unfulfilled. Theodore is clearly depressed and together with a feeling of being disconnected and distant from the world he is struggling to adapt to single life with an impending divorce on the horizon from his best friend and childhood sweetheart “Catherine” (Rooney Mara). Through intermittent flashbacks we discover a happy, contented and playful Theodore enjoying life and marriage but this is far from the present day picture painted of him. Alone and lonely in his sumptuous apartment overlooking the city, his distant stares of longing are evident constantly as he searches for meaning in his life as well as companionship and love. His small circle of friends include his obvious soul mate and long term platonic friend “Amy” (Amy Adams), her husband “Charles” (Matt Letscher) and work friends “Paul” (Chris Pratt) and “Lewman” (Luka Jones) but Theodore is desperately lonely, disconnected and desperate and with his head turned by the advertisements for the interactive Operating Systems, he purchases a new friend! With the impending divorce and only Amy for a real friend in which to confide, Theodore slips further and further away from the real world and into an interactive computer world with “Samantha” (voiced by Scarlett Johannsson) and despite not believing “I’m having this conversation with my computer!” he slowly falls in love with his computer Operating System.
In a film of such few main characters, two characters and performances stand out and as alluded to previously Joaquin Phoenix is magnificent yet again. The character actor of his generation, he just infuses every character he plays with such verve that he defies you to look away from the screen and dare to miss any part of his performance(s) and again here he takes a somewhat indifferent and exhausted character and injects him with such love and affection that we overlook his faults and frailties. Theodore is such a layered character, disconnected, indifferent, unhappy and feeling that life has almost passed him by and that he’ll “never feel anything new” again, but he’s also joyous, self deprecating, selfless and kind. Brilliantly written by Spike Jonze and a character magnificently realised (yet again) by Joaquin Phoenix.
Similarly, Amy Adams continues to produce character performances that surprise and delight in equal measure as she follows her recent excellent performances in American Hustle and The Master with a nuanced portrayal of Amy here. Stifled by a selfish and self absorbed husband, she is clearly Theodore’s soul mate and friend in need since becoming firm friends in college. They may not be romantically linked but they’re almost mirror characters in a way and never more presciently than Amy’s scathing, yet amusing outburst that love is “like a socially acceptable form of insanity”. How would she feel then if she discovered that her best friend had fallen in love with his computer Operating System?
Her was lauded at the 2014 Oscars with three further nominations in addition to Spike Jonze’s win for Best Original Screenplay. The film itself was nominated for Best Film of the Year and although Director of Photography Hoyte Van Hoytema was not individually recognised for his achievements it is to him that a large part of the credit must be paid for producing such a clean, clear, crisp and visually stunning near future. In league with Director Jonze they have both envisioned a near future akin to today’s experience but with a heightened sense of the all pervasive technological advances in a cleaner, brighter world. The colour palette is bright, the visuals pin prick sharp and the film gains much from Van Hoytema’s brilliantly captured skylines, sunsets, sunrises and wide angled cityscape shots. KK Barrett was also deservedly nominated for his production design which brilliantly complimented the visual ascetics of the near future vision of the Director and two further Oscar nominations were awarded for the film’s wonderful musical score accompaniment. Firstly, Will Butler (of Arcade Fire fame) and Owen Pallett were nominated for their original music written directly for a film and their compositions of gentle string, piano and mellotron ballads are simply beautiful and the soundtrack is a pure joy and highly recommended. Secondly, “Moon Song” (written by Director Jonze and Karen O) appears twice in the film and was rightly nominated for Best Original Song and is a beautifully moving piece of music that also accompanies the film’s closing credits.
Her is a highly original film in every sense, tackling highly prescient issues whilst shining a light on a disconnected future that is fast arriving in spades accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack and two stellar central performances. The film is often melancholic but please don’t overlook either the joyous nature intermingled here or indeed the comedic twists provided by a horrendous blind date, a foul mouthed Alien (voiced by the Director) or Theodore’s desperate use of an internet chat line. Just don’t mention cats, ok?
Her was dedicated to James Gandolfini, Harris Savides, Maurice Sedak and Adam Yauch. Actors, writers, film makers but more importantly “friends” of Director Jonze, all of whom died during the making of the film.
2021 Postscript: This blog was originally published exactly 7 years and 15 days ago. Read Her again and shudder at where we were technologically 7 years ago, and then tell Alexa to play you some Radiohead whilst you check your Facebook feed. See you in another 7 years!
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film and television articles are linked below or there’s well over 100 blog articles (with 300+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
“True Romance” (1993)
The Best of Tony Scott — Vol 1.medium.com
“Fargo” (1996)
My Coen Brothers Top Ten — Vol 2.medium.com
“Kill Bill: Volume 1” (2003)
“This woman deserves her revenge. And we, deserve to die”medium.com