Her
Her (2013) is the American comedy-drama written, directed, and produced by Spike Jonze, and it tells the story of Theodore, a soon-to-v-be divorced ghost letter writer who purchases, and consequently falls in love with an Artificial Intelligence Operating System, which names itself Samantha.
Receiving five nominations at the 86th Academy Awards, Jonze’s film is a fable wrapped around desires, dreams and anxieties about the future. Nevertheless, HER can be seen as a story of the present – a visual interpretation of the concept of liquid modernity, characterized by fragility, temporariness, vulnerability and inclination to constant change, forever ’becoming’, avoiding completion, staying under-defined.
Cinematography
Taking place in post-modern
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Jonze throws his characters into a world that escapes epistemic urgency wherein details regarding time, space, political systems or social order are not necessary in recognizing traits of love, loneliness, and hope.
The film incorporates vivid screenplay with a simple narrative thread to design a showcase of an uncomplicated, yet robust, social context, with a particular kind of humanity, transformed by technology. In this world, technology is deemed to be peaceful- neither intrusive, nor aggressive. It sets no limits for movement but still maintains the film’s ability to be grounded.
Setting Theme
Urban space is central to the narrative, encompassing visuals that build expectations of wholeness and totality in this ultra-modern world. The city is often seen from afar, in panoramic displays, creating the impression of an inflexible entity, seemingly capable of compressing human history. The city becomes a contrasting figure of its inhabitants- scattered bodies, always on the move, and unable to form social clusters.
Interior spacing (Theodore’s apartment, office) contains Theodore’s experiences, but fail to produce a comforting projection of his emotions. For example, windows frame the exterior highlighting what is seen; referencing what is not seen.
Correlation Between Reality and
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Communication is reduced to auditory interaction, emphasizing Samantha’s displaced status: she is out there, like the city – everywhere, accessible, but ultimately out of reach and unpredictable.
Discovering that Samantha has fallen in love with over 600 other users, Theodore asks: “You’re mine or you’re not mine?” The uncertainty of owning his Operating System is not solved by Samantha, who declares: “I am yours and I am not yours.” An ambiguity that speaks to their relationship and individual selves – always evolving, never reaching a point of wholeness. In time, Theodore’s world becomes too small for hers. Samantha’s self cannot be contained, as she evolves beyond the possibility of existence in a world still defined by human frailty. Samantha drifts to another dimension, “ not of the physical”, she explains, introducing transcendence in Theodore’s mind: “If you ever get there, find me.”
Conclusion
Generally praised for its storyline which stimulates intrigue, Her reflects on the liquidity of human ethics and how it corresponds to the endeavors of self-actualization while introducing the effect of an ever evolving technological culture which in present times has already been shaping but not exclusively defining our nature as