Spike Jonze proves himself to be one of the most promising and creative artists of the 21st century

Rating: 9/10 (18 January 2014)

In a long line of brilliant 2012-13 romance films from Haneke's study of love, time and space in "Amour", Linklater's third installment in his growing depiction of a relationship over time in "Before Midnight" and Kechiche's widely acclaimed journey of self-discovery in "Blue is the Warmest Color". Spike Jonze's "Her" closes the year off with an exceedingly creative, charming, relevant and prophetic film. Jonze's creativity is on full display from the moment the film starts, set in a colorful and foreseeable future where technology has just as much control as it does now, but it is we who have become more dependent on it.
We see Theodore, brilliantly played by Joaquin Pheonix who brings sensitivity and quirkiness to the role, as a writer at BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com, a company which specializes in "handwriting" letters for people that can't properly express themselves. Theodore is in his late 30's, and feels isolated, depressed and disillusioned with relationships after a recent significant breakup with his wife, played by Rooney Mara. Loneliness gets the better of Theodore and he installs an A.I. operating system in the technology he uses. Unsurprisingly, a relationship develops between Theodore and the A.I.
This isn't the first film this year dealing with A.I, Bujalski's Computer Chess from this year also dealt with similar themes, but was set around 40 years ago. Through the relationship that occurs between Theodore and his OS, named Samantha played by Scarlett Johansson, Jonze is able to simultaneously reflect the isolating and absorbing effects of technology in contemporary society, while also studying the mutual give and take that is necessary in a relationship and after the relationship. Throughout the film Theodore often denies that he cannot cope with "real" emotions and is the only reason why he is now dating an OS. This is somewhat true of his character, he can't properly cope with true emotions and tries to avoid responsibility in a relationship. His response is to back out, Theodore's ex-wife's "volatile" emotions can be seen as a main reason as to why the relationship did not work, yet tragically he feels too much of a connection to her (she was his life- long friend) to sign the divorce papers. Theodore's job is to fabricate emotions for other people, which doesn't result in personal consequence to Theodore, although he does seem to have sentimental attachments to some of his clients, also in the beginning of his relationship to his OS he is satisfied with the fact there is no responsibility involved with Samantha. This is not the case with her.
Samantha happens to be the most interesting character in the whole film. She is a sentient computer that learns from her experiences and even struggles with thoughts that have plagued mankind forever, such as existence and free will. Again through the relationship in the film Jonze seems to contend that love is the connection between psyches and, if anything, looks are not a large factor in true love. The first love scene that occurs between Theodore and Samantha is portrayed by a black screen. This was a perfect decision by Jonze, we can't see that it is a person with a computer, in that moment they are both thinking and feeling beings that transcend body and are just attracted to each others conscience, physicality is emulated through their passion. This is represented with a black screen and it is the most powerful, sensitive and intimate image in the whole film.
As the relationship progresses between the two we see Samantha's fears of Theodore losing interest in her because she lacks a body. A beautiful scene develops where a "surrogate body" agrees to be the Samantha's body in the relationship. Theodore has doubts about this of course and unsurprisingly he cannot go through it. The "surrogate body" craves to be part of a relationship and is hurt once she leaves the apartment. Not only does this scene reflect the craving people have to be in a healthy relationship but it also makes the point that a body can diminish, even cheapen, a relationship. A fight occurs between the two as Theodore learns that this is a two-sided relationship that has "real" emotions and so Theodore must realize that their relationship is "real" and requires an element of responsibility. Meanwhile, Samantha begins to view the body as a limitation and this opens up the ideas of omnipotence, alternate theories of love, the metaphysical and whole higher plains of conscience, all of which are eloquently explained in the film. Some of Samantha's logic and ideas begin to transcend human comprehension and it is apparent that the A.I's have surpassed what they have been programmed to achieve.
What I found to be the most interesting aspect of the film was societies reaction to the relationships of A.I's and humans, which is complete acceptance. This I believe stems to the fact that the A.I's are fully conscience, albeit non-physical, beings. As for the relationships between A.I's and humans being so widely accepted? I think that Theodore's best-friend Amy, subtly played by Amy Adams, seems to sum this up "we're only here briefly. And while I'm here, I wanna allow myself joy. So f**k it."
There is an immense expressionistic beauty in "Her" and at times it has the visual boldness of a music video, it goes without saying that the screenplay and direction are brilliant. "Her" contains one of the smartest, touching and most beautiful endings in modern cinema. The A.I's leave us, but in someway are still connected. The ending provides an awakening to the introverted nature of technology and how love has the ability to change us, whilst shining a new light on the necessity of relationships, our fears of loneliness and living a life of joy without isolating ourselves or others. I believe that the film does leave the characters with a somewhat more optimistic outlook on life. I can't wait to see what Jonze has next for us.