So being a poor student, I don’t often go to the cinema, but I recently discovered the Errol Flynn Filmhouse in Northampton, which is a small filmhouse in my home county. It only has one screen, but they show a lot of smaller, more independent films that bigger cinemas such as Vue don’t, so when I saw they were screening Her, I jumped at the chance. I’ll probably post at some point about how much I love the Errol Flynn, so I’ll get straight onto the good stuff – the film.
The most recent of productions by Spike Jonze, Her has a stellar cast of Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara and the voice of Scarlett Johansson. Set in the not-so-distant future, it’s the story of Theodore (Phoenix), a letter-writer in LA, separated from his wife (Mara) who starts a relationship with his recently purchased OS Samantha (voiced by Johansson). Along the way, we see his friend and neighbour, Amy (Adams).
Not a lot seems to happen in this film, but at the same time, a lot does happen. You can probably count the key points of the film on one hand, and sum it up, but that’s the beauty of it. There are so many elements to the film that you focus on, and the simplicity of the story – in a nutshell, a love story between man and OS – just adds to the gracefulness of it. The future LA isn’t the typical over-the-top, Trontastic setting you normally except from a film set ahead of time; instead it feels scarily close, like it could happen any minute. Sure, there are some technological gizmos you know won’t be around for a good few years (amusingly, a swearing video game that the user fully interacts with, and the whole idea of an OS that develops a personality) but it still manages to be believable. One thing I noted was the mix of styles, from the future technology to the retro costuming, it gives an almost timeless feel, and the fluidity of this really adds to the film. The music dips between diegetic and non-diegetic, many being piano pieces Samantha devises and plays to Theodore, drawing us ever further into their world. Although one may argue that there is an overriding use of montage, it does have a purpose, to show us the love between Theodore and Samantha developing, the pure happiness of what was a lonely man as he begins to get over his wife. These scenes were some of my favourite, just watching Theodore talk to Samantha, and feeling like you’re part of their relationship. There are some absolutely brilliant performances throughout, with my personal favourite being Adams as she develops her own little story alongside Phoenix’s character, though both Phoenix and Johansson are also pretty remarkable.
Although at times it feels a little over-montaged, and there is one or two scenes which feel a bit awkward, Her is a beautiful film. It is a film of so many elements – music, visual aspects, the acting – that all come together to make a gorgeous feature. The simple yet stunning story, the setting, the performance, all left me wanting to see more. It’s a film that you can watch and identify with, and think, “Yeah, I remember feeling like that once”, reminiscing about the beauty of falling in love. And I’ve got to admit, I definitely fell in love with this film. 5/5
Ramblings of Rachools 