Her - A review

Hello everyone! 🍁

Since watching Joaquin Phoenix's recent, amazing, performance in Joker I have been reminded of his absolutely captivating skills portrayed through his role of Theodore Twombly in Her.

Her is one of my all time favourite films, maybe not the favourite but definitely top 5. This film captivates a mood that honestly I wish my everyday life had, the happiness and simplicity of being in a world where you can be just you in any way you wish. There are so many things I love about this film and when I first saw it I honestly wasn't convinced it was for me.

Also, a little confession here I haven't actually seen that many Joaquin Phoenix films, but the ones I have I will love for life. The first ever film I saw him in was Gladiator, it is such a gorgeous piece of work and is a family favourite in our household. Admittedly, as Gladiator is one of the only other films I have seen I really felt a dislike to Joaquin at first, but this does not mean I disliked his acting ability.

I also need to stress for a second his eyes in this poster - Wow, who knew they were so blue.

He is one of those actors that plays the bad guy so well, that you end up wanting to hate him because of his performances, and in this film my opinion really did flip on him, he is now one of my favourite actors and the roles he portrays are so completely gripping. He brought the...well everything to the film. He rocked it,and it made me realise how much I actually truly loved his work and in particular, this film, his 2013 'Her' This film was an incredible piece of work with an absolutely amazing score. The soundtrack for this film remains the renaissance of soundtracks.

The opening track for the film is one of an incredibly harsh interpretation on my part, but it works in a way I simply can’t describe. It sets the scene without overly elaborating or detracting from the visuals. It makes my gut hurt and I feel something hollow, like Theodore is missing something, an air of loneliness. The sharpness of these contrasting sounds creates this great vibration of noise, and it simply captivates the ears which most movies can’t achieve. Let alone doing this within the first few minutes and with most of only a soundtrack.

There is a crucial combination of visual and audio stimuli within films, mainly focusing it toward the audience and not on the atmosphere of the film, but this film seriously makes it feel tailored to the individual and not the wide audience. It captures you as an individual viewer rather than a mass group target audience.

The opening scene audio really drew me in as we start in an office of crowded creative minds and instantly people start talking about love and the inevitable connections between people. This completely instils a feeling of comfort and warmth, whilst setting a tone for the film as a whole. Accompanying this scene is a gracious shift in feeling within the music, swapping the essences of notes with added pauses for definition and emphasis on the importance of a lingering key.

The introduction of the piano here, for me, implies some form of hope for Theodore’s character and honestly, his first line. “They’re just letters” Really rings in me as letters in our day and time are a hard thing to come by, especially hand written - Even if he is using a computer to hand write them. It is a highly defined point throughout the film by the people who go to him and the company for the beautiful handwritten letters, that there is an importance behind it as though the letters have a depth of caring. It comes across as though his words are changing and impacting people's lives, not to mention spreading the love his character clearly needs.

This opening scene is clearly one that speaks to me because I can’t emphasise enough how much I love it. The use of colour here is presented in a really subtle manner that is so loosely obvious, it’s hard to define. When he is at work there are colourful panels and bright colours all around, showing that he is comfortable in his workplace or happy in his writing lifestyle and when he leaves the first thing we are presented with is a grey background and tall harsh buildings. These contrast so strongly with his red coat which even amongst the people around him, he stands out as a singular, everyone is in light blue, white or grey, emphasising on the fact Theodore is alone.

However, it doesn’t just emphasise his loneliness, it also strengthens the notion that he may be perceived differently to a lot of other people within the film and he stands out in a way that is rarely noticed or appreciated by others around him. The notion of a lonely soul is portrayed through a lot of different scenes throughout this film, the most obvious of which - Headphones. Near on everyone in this film in public has some form of ear or headphones, isolating them all within their own bubble when walking around, minimising human contact in the outer world. This is then shown through his resistance to reply to emails, not having many, playing games alone and walking mainly by himself.

The red of his coat that I mentioned earlier, is taken with him throughout the film as a fashion statement and something to segment Theodore from the crowds, so the next time we see him he is wearing red, to establish a theme and a personality within him.

There are so many things about this film I completely love, especially the way characters are introduced to us, from the way Samantha is first introduced, to Chris Pratt’s character, his girlfriend and the very few people Theodore actually interacts with. Also it must be mentioned that Chris Pratt as Theodore's boss - Amazing. I feel like even though he acts in a wide diversity we never get to see him in such a chilled point of power and the comedic way he portrays himself here, as always is perfect comedic gold, a great subtle character to accompany Joaquin's performance.

Theodore’s introduction to us is very minimal, but we learn so much about him through the inflections and personal characteristics we see within the actors performance. As the OS1 operating system asks him questions, and he starts to speak to Samantha we learn small things about him, by the machine cutting him off mid sentence we see that he could often be misheard or misunderstood, or that he carries his writer mind around with him feeling the need to over elaborate or add extra information for no apparent reason. It is also incredibly interesting that we learn about Theodore as Samantha does as well.

Another thing that I find honestly encapsulating is the aesthetic of this film, the video game scene is one of my favourite, where we are hit with an incredibly rude animated character that is completely extrovert and amazing. It demonstrates that the advert for the OS literally flew into his life and forced itself upon him, ensuring his loneliness would diminish somewhat. I also feel it is important to add as Samantha is also called OS1 that the 1 here means it is the first operating system of its kind and therefore may be subject to changes or upgrades at some point throughout the film, this is something I noticed on my… Second watch of this film? And it made me realise so many things, especially toward the end where Samantha talks about growing and experiencing things she can’t explain and doesn’t know how to explain it, because the way she is growing literally hasn’t been done before.

Theodore’s relationship with Amy is something that I honestly love, she is such a depthful character without the appearance of being so extroverted and so forthright. The way she describes the AI helping her explore life, goes into the whole exploration of the AI and how the situation isn’t all “Black and White” as referred to in the film.

This suggestion of loneliness is also portrayed throughout the film even when Samantha is present, when at the beach although the music is hopeful and entrancing, there is still a clear segment between Theodore and the other people within the film as there is a clear contrast in the nakedness of everyone else and Theodore being completely clothed. On the way to the beach we are also given a constant stream of POV shots from Theodore and Samantha’s perspective, seeing people walking toward him or at him and never beside him.

It portrays the illusion of him being surrounded by people, but in reality it is an empty place for him and without Samantha he would just be alone. The looking up and around, panning of buildings, also suggests the seriousness of his awareness he is lonely, as this constant planning ensures he is viewed in a large area as a singular being. This is then juxtaposed by the hesitation of his ex wife to sign the divorce papers, it gives intrigue and creates questions into what happened with their relationship as it is presented through a very melancholy vibe giving off the impression he is sad for leaving their relationship, but ready for it to end and for something new. Not necessarily Samantha, but something different.

The silence following the divorce papers being signed and the shots of them together, ring incredibly hard within me and within the film, using the silence to convey the strength in the emotion, but it also adds a complete solstice and an ending note to the whole of their relationship, rounding it off into something amazing.

“Her name’s Samantha, and she’s an operating system” This happens to be my favourite quote of the film, I know it’s a strange choice of quote, but my god the settling of this ideology into life is so strange, but openly accepted throughout the film. The following scenes of the divorce, Theodore sat as his desk in silence, could be a contemplation of a lot of different things, this piece is down to our interpretation as the viewer. My personal interpretation is that he is reflecting on the divorce and questioning his relationship with Samantha.

The repetition of her name being presented over and over in handwriting really enhances the essences of how insecure he really is and this refers back to his quote earlier in the film “They’re just letters” Is he now seeing her name as only letters and only an OS on his phone? This may be some form of realisation that Samantha is just as real as the letters he has been writing for people, it seems to sink in how unrealistic it all is for him, solidified by the fact he writes letters for other people and does not receive this love for himself.

The soul stripping emotion and juxtaposition of shots of scenes and emotion throughout the film, really throw you back and forth between emotions, giving you some kind of perspective that really enhances the overall direction and viewing experience. Along with the shots of hard concrete streets, tarmacked roads and unfeeling tall buildings, this contrast of concrete life to the enhancements of emotion really change the point of the film.

There are also some amazing character differences within the film, for example Theodore has a small stutter that really enhances his character and Samantha is made to seem more human by the constant inflections she adds to her voice, these also really affect Theodore, which honestly makes me hate Samantha a little.

She has been created by humans and given inflections to use for certain stresses of emotion, but the way she uses them is to guilt Theodore and as a self aware OS with human intelligence she would know how this would make him feel, but maybe that’s what makes her so human, that she is somewhat dislikable. I genuinely have doubts as to her “Wants” And how much she can actually relate to human intelligence, if she is as complex as human life, then her inferences are justified, as we use them everyday, even if it is harder to understand from a perspective of a human who communicates with an AI. It is a hard perspective to put yourself in.

My boyfriend did actually raise an important point that (in his words) he has a male perspective on the film so it is easier for him to identify with Theodore having a woman as a girlfriend and therefore tries to see her more as a person and less like AI given that the line between consciousness is so blurred throughout the film. He raised the point that it is easier to empathise with the guy of not wanting to lose Samantha, but also from her perspective of being very protective of Theodore.

Another scene I absolutely love, is the complete heart wrenching part when Theodore falls, in his running to find Samantha when her program goes down. It shows everyone coming together to help him up and I honestly think this is such a crucial moment within the film as it shows he is not alone in his life anymore and shows that he is noticed and cared for by others. It also suggests to us a change will soon be implemented and that their world is still focused on a lot of human contact and the ability to still help others.

This feeling of a change is also really implemented by Amy, in the first times we meet her she seems very quiet, not very outspoken, unsure of herself, and rather put down by her partner. Thank god they split up! But now we have this new view of Amy, a positive, reassured woman who I really love. She has a realisation of self worth and being and in this wants to provide a better friendship for Theodore, together creating this great connection within their friendship and she seems to instill him with the same positive perspective. The emotion of Theodore's expressions throughout the scene of him and Amy talking about Samantha really reminded me that actually he uses them all the time.

When he is talking to Samantha he talks to her with his facial expressions, as though she can see and hear his emotion through his expression, he tries to convey his passion and feeling to her and the need for human contact without outright saying it and it’s really something amazing that not a lot of actors do very well. Theodore’s character often has a slight bewildered look with an intention to create emotion and the compilation of these two makes him such an intriguing guy within this story, it makes you want to watch on to the end. There is also a return back to Theodore’s red shirt toward the end of the film, but this is accompanied by a new type of music, instilling this feeling of hope and reflection for the audience as to what his character was at the beginning which rounds the film off amazingly well.

The ending of this film, after Samantha has left, really touches me in a way I completely didn’t expect. It created a tight lump in my throat and a longing from me to ensure Theodore found what he needed and could be happy. This is followed by a huge contrast from what we usually see being daytime or a bright sunset, to the darkness of night and this really changes the tone and mood, enhancing the remnants of darkness and sadness. Although people are pulled apart here, we are greeted with an air of closure in the end. A reassurance that Theodore and Amy’s friendship is strong and they will support each other. Their closeness is filmed in such an amazing way as Theodore reads his letter to Catherine, along with the slow and low repetition of piano keys, it all sets a great tone to end the film on, creating something completely whole and I urge you if you haven’t. Watch the film.

Feel the raw emotion, find the peace in a bad thing that happened, this film is… One of peace, but loneliness and sadness in context and one with an amazing soundtrack that simply enhances the whole experience. It isn’t only a visual masterpiece but one of hope and decency, with the state of the world right now, we need to feel the closeness of each other and the raw emotion of life.

Regain hope, love, kindness and rejoice in that of what you have around you and the people you are able to share it with.

Quick disclaimer, this piece contains my thoughts and opinions, they are no one else's just my own. I mean no offence to the creators or people involved in the creation or production of the film. As stated before it is one of my personal favourites and I can only dream of making something like this.

As always, thank you for reading - I hoped you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment, like or reach me on social media!

I hope you all have a lovely day,

🍁 Stay smiling

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