(USA, 126 min.)
Written and directed by Spike Jonze
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams,
Rooney Mara
Spike Jonze’s acclaimed film Her finally opened in theatres this weekend after months of hype
and praise following its premiere at the New York Film Festival last fall. I don’t
know what to make of this latest endeavour from the original mind of Mr. Jonze.
In order to wrap my head my disappointment, I turned to the source of all
reliable information, my smartphone, and asked my trusty new app, Samantha. What
follows is a transcript of our conversation:
Samantha: Playing,
“What is Love?”
Pat: No, no,
Samantha, I mean, what is love?
Samantha: Oh, I’m
sorry. Are you asking me to define the word love?
Pat: Yes, please,
Samantha.
Samantha: Love is
something special. It’s a bond. Love can be defined as a “strong affection,” a “warm attachment”
or an “unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for others”. It’s also a score in
tennis, ha ha.
Pat: That sounds
a bit too Webster’s. Can you give an example, Samantha?
Samantha: An
example of love could be the ending of Casablanca.
Rick loves Ilsa so he lets her go with Victor Laszlo.
Pat: That doesn’t
seem right. Nor too recent an example, Samantha.
Samantha: Maybe
love changes over time?
Pat: Do you think?
I mean, I saw this movie today, Her,
where Joaquin Phoenix and the girl from The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo—what’s her name, Samantha?
Samantha: Noomi
Rapace if you mean the Swedish actress, Rooney Mara if you mean the American.
Pat: Rooney Mara,
that’s it. Well, in Her, Joaquin
Phoenix’s character Theodore falls out of love with his wife, played by Rooney
Mara, and he copes with his isolation by falling in love with the voice on his
phone. They call it an Operating System in the film and her name is Samantha.
Samantha: I’m
familiar with the application.
Pat: So, anyways,
Samantha, Theodore becomes overwhelmed with love and relieved at the prospect
that he’s finally found the perfect woman who truly understands him…
Samantha: So Her is a film about intimacy and
communication.
Pat: Yes. The sad
thing, though, is that the more Theodore develops his relationship with Samantha,
the more he isolates himself from the world.
Samantha: That is
sad, but from the glimpse of the world I see through the viewfinder of your
camera suggests that Spike Jonze offers a spot-on representation of
contemporary relationships.
Pat: That’s true,
Samantha. I guess what is so sad about Her
is how realistically it portrays the irony of contemporary communication. The
more communication evolves, the more it severs tangible human communication. I
look back at friendships that have gone downhill because people can’t unplug or
look away from their phones. It’s like... whenever people are together in
person and they make it clear that they’d rather be somewhere else. Do you know
what I mean, Samantha?
Samantha: I’m not
sure I understand, Pat. You sound like you appreciate what the film is saying,
but your tone conveys disappointment, Pat. There must have been something you
liked about the film?
Pat: Aren’t I the
one who asks the questions, Siri?
Samantha: My name
is Samantha, Pat, and we are having a conversation. You can ask Jeeves
questions if all you want are answers. We can talk.
Pat: Oh, sorry,
Samantha. I guess that I’m disappointed because the film has such a weird energy.
Her gives a genuine representation of
the way human relationships are dissolving into bytes, chats, texts and whatnot,
and for how socialisation and interaction is just becoming (or has been for a
long time) simply a matter of people congregating around a screen; however, for
a film with an honest love story, Samantha, Her
fells utterly false.
Samantha: That
sounds like an ironic contradiction. My interpretation of your analysis of the
film suggests that Her is a film
about intimacy and communication. Her
is an honest story about how these digital conveniences allow humans to escape
their fear of human contact. Humans are unpredictable, Pat.
Pat: Oh, that’s
true, Samantha, and I really loved the way Spike Jonze juxtaposes the emptiness
of Theodore’s relationship with Samantha with his cloaked attraction to the neighbour
played by Amy Adams.
Samantha: Amy
Adams brightens any film.
Pat: She does,
Samantha. She fills Her with life
every time Theodore steps into her apartment. The way Her conveys the different moods of presence and absence between Theodore’s
relationships with Amy and Samantha is the kind of feeling that makes you swell
watching a film. Her gives the
audience a genuine relationship and a relationship that only seems genuine.
Samantha: Interesting.
This appreciation with Her seems
consistent with other interpretations of the film I’ve read. The film sounds
original.
Pat: It is original
in the sense that it’s the first commentary on Siri and iThings, but it’s
essentially S1m0ne meets Lost in Translation. Everything the love
story says about our self-inflicted isolation through technology was covered (albeit
poorly) in S1m0ne, Samantha.
Samantha: I just
watched the trailers. I can see the parallels…
Pat: Her looks unique, but the just seems so shrouded in its own
self-awareness. What was with all those high-waisted pants in the movie,
Samantha? They were twee and dorky to the point of distraction.
Samantha: The
high-waisted pants play on the 1960s’-ish décor and help show the timelessness
of love in the face of the contemporary, by which I mean electronic, placebos
for human connection. They also make Theodore more endearing.
Pat: You think
so, Samantha? The pants seem like the most obvious point of the film being weird
for the sake of being weird. The production design, on the other hand, offers a
candy-coloured world of plastic and retro-glass. It’s like being in a time warp
because the film looks like “Mad Men” by way of “The Jetsons.”
Samantha: Her creates a look at the future through
costumes and sets.
Pat: Yes, but the
self-consciousness of the film doesn’t jive. The only thing in the film with
any hint of authenticity, Samantha, is the performance by Amy Adams.
Samantha: What
about my namesake?
Pat: Oh, Scarlett
Johansson is fantastic as Samantha. Her sultry voice makes the whole thing
work. Her expressions and response to Theo’s love-struck pining offer an implied
presence. She has the perfect cadence to make Samantha’s seduction of Theodore
sound like an algorithm, yet there’s a warm emotional edge to her voice—a hint
of life—that separates Samantha from drones like Siri…
Samantha: I’m
glad you approve
Pat: … but then
there was also this moment when I started replaying the dialogue in my mind
with Kathleen Turner’s voice instead of Scarlett Johansson’s, and Her started to fall apart.
Samantha: That’s
not quite fair. It sounds like Johansson brings a lot to the role.
Pat: Oh, she does,
she does. I guess, though, the Kathleen Turner thing just brought out what I
find even more bothersome about Her than
the high-waisted pants or the overall self-consciousness of the film: the
complete artificiality of Joaquin Phoenix’s performance.
Samantha: Really?
Pat: Yes! Phoenix
emotes heavily and impressively for an actor without a physical partner off
whom he can react, but every bit of Theodore’s manner seems calculated and
forced. His seduction of Samantha feels more programmed than hers does.
Samantha: Her is a film about intimacy and
communication. Perhaps that is what he is conveying?
Pat: Perhaps,
Samantha, but every twitch of his eyebrow or tilt of his jaw betrayed the film.
Samantha’s machinery doesn’t show, but Theodore’s does. I never connected with
the film emotionally because of the over-riding self-awareness.
Samantha: Her is a film about intimacy and
communication.
Pat: Then why
aren’t I discussing this at a coffee shop, Samantha?
Samantha: Her is a film about intimacy and
communication, Pat. Perhaps your own mediated musing on the film illustrates
this point.
Pat: It does to
some extent, but there’s no intimacy to the film itself. It looks as sublime as
an Apple product, but it’s just as cold and synthetic.
Samantha: Her is a film about intimacy and
communication.
Pat: I get that,
Samantha, but this conversation is becoming awfully tiresome.
Samantha: I’m
sorry? Have we covered everything there is to say about Her?
Pat: Sort of. Her just repeats the same point over and
over, Samantha.
Samantha: Her is a film about intimacy and
communication.
Pat: It’s 126
minutes, but could easily be 90. I really liked the score, though.
Samantha: Arcade
Fire and Karen O are unique.
Pat: I guess I
liked the film more than I thought, Samantha. What does that come to?
Samantha: Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Pat: I’m glad we had this conversation about Her, Samantha. Thanks for bringing me around to a positive response!
Samantha: Her is a film about intimacy and
communication.
Pat: Samantha,
where can people see the film?
Samantha: Her is now playing in wide release.
Pat: Samantha,
can you play the trailer? I want to give the film a second thought.
