“Her” is an incredibly interesting
investigation into the realm of human emotions and relationships. It makes the
viewer question exactly what it means to be in love? Set in a futuristic time
and place (though the surroundings don’t seem too dissimilar from the world we
live in today), our main character, Theodore, is a letter writer – but not the
kind you would imagine. In this setting, people like you and I hire letter
writers like Theodore to compose letters to our loved ones. Theodore has a
sensitive soul. He has the ability to put himself in a stranger’s shoes and
look at the world and feel things from their point of views. But he is
melancholy (or “mopey” as is the word that the characters in the film often
describe him as). He has recently gotten out of a relationship and doesn’t know
how to pick up the fragmented broken pieces of glass that is his heart and
start anew. That is, until he acquires an Operating System, who goes by the
name of Samantha, and finds himself connecting more with her than he has ever
connected with anyone in his life.
The two main actors of the film, Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson
(though she never actually appears in the movie) both deliver stunning
performances that moved me. Though I found myself being able to connect with
Theodore in his times of loneliness, confusion and happiness, I found myself
being more impressed by Scarlett Johansson’s voice work of Samantha. Her voice
has such a distinctive quality that I have always admired (the raspiness and
soft lilts). She was able to convey so much emotion with just her voice. The
brief pauses that she took or the sudden quivering of her voice made me feel
every bit as much emotion as I would feel if her face actually appeared on the
screen. And I suppose that this is the exact predicament or message that Spike
Jonze was trying to send. What is real and what is not? Are relationships real
if they’re made through technological terms? What defines love? If I, and
probably the tens of thousands of viewers of the film, was moved and felt a
connection with Samantha, doesn’t that make their love real?
The music that flowed through the film was absolutely perfect and the film
would not be complete without it. Another aspect I thought was significant to
the film was the colors. There was almost a yellowish tint to the entire film
that reminded me of faded, old photographs. The film made me feel nostalgic
even though it was set in the future. Maybe this was Jonze’s vision with Hoyte
Van Hoytema to make the audience long to reach back into a time in their lives
where they, too, felt real emotions like Theodore, and by doing so, convince
them that love is not confined by the materialistic vision of things.
