isolation, love, humanity-'Her'

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2014)

'Her' is a meditation on loneliness, humanity and consciousness. What happens when an operating system gains consciousness and a person falls in love with it.
Of course this view has been explored but not without a sensitivity brought into this genre by director Spike Jonze. What Jonze looks at is in fact the alienation inherent in modern society. Primarily, the alienation of (wo)man from (wo)man.
One cannot miss the shots of the protagonist, Theodor (played brilliantly by Joaquin Phoenix)always in isolation. Even while he falls in 'love' with his OS, one notices how much of the time he is 'alone' Of course the protagonist finds love with 'Samantha' his OS (voiced by Johansson), an evolving consciousness.
The tensions bound to come up in this relationship are brilliantly brought out by Jonze. At one level what Jonze is trying to put across is that the gap between machines and humans is possibly unbridgeable, so to find solace and comfort in 'the other' is bound to fail. The hallmark of this failure is language. Theodor excels in playing with language (being a professional letter writer). Samantha on the other hand struggles to find words to articulate what she 'feels'. As a result of this Samantha decides to leave Theodor. This parting scene is brilliantly done. Imagining departure, requires on the part of Theodor, to conjure up a body to respond to.
There are other points of disjunct between Samantha and Theodor, an important one being physicality. One cannot separate the physical and the emotional but Theodor's happiness with Samantha suspiciously tries to sever this bond.A very interesting scene where this tension rises up is when on a picnic with another couple, Samantha bursts into a paean about freedom from decay and physical limitations. However, these 'limitations' are an essential attribute of humanity i.e. mortality. Not surprisingly the 'humans' don't know how to respond.
Where Jonze fails to an extent is the 'solution' he offers to this problem of disconnect between human beings. Towards the end, after being left by Smantha, Theodor attempts to form a bridge between himself and his friend Amy (Amy Adams). The last shot is of them sitting on the terrace together, gazing at the vast city. This shot visualizes the vastness and emptiness of the city but Jonze counters this by placing Amy and Theodor at the center. Thus representing hope.
Why does alienation happen? Why is alienation so strong in our historical period? Is a monogamous relationship the answer to this disconnect? Theodor fell in love with this machine precisely because the strains and effects of modernity on relationships packaged and sold to him (us)take a toll. The ending unfortunately resorts to these clichéd models of togetherness.
What Spike Jonze does then is articulate loneliness and emptiness but succumbs to cultural standardization. Yet certainly worth watching for excellent performances by Phoenix and Johansson.