Her - Film Blog: Sara, Raul, Jean

Her (2013)

Director and Screenwriter: Spike Jonze

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara

Running time: 2h16

Plot Summary

In a not so distant future, advanced computer operating systems, call OS1s, are introduced to the market in order to aid the population with their day to day tasks.  Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Pheonix) a lonely man who writes people's love letters purchases one called Samantha (Scarlett Johansson) and begins to form a bond with it. This new friendship begins to grow and Theodore falls in love with it. Both of them start a relationship which resembles a human to human relationship. This connection tests our ability to love, to grow and to experience life with artificial intelligence. 


Movies are an art form in which a filmmaker´s style and technique can create individualism and a special perspective  on story telling. Movies contain both cinematic techniques as well as theatrical elements, cinematic techniques include framing, angle, sound, editing and camera movements, theatrical elements include costumes, props, sets, and actors. The understanding of this elements and help the viewer in analyzing how a filmmaker is trying to convey his story. 

Film Techniques

·      Framing (close-ups, long shots, camera angles)

Tracking Shot: When Theodore walks around the city with Samantha the viewer gets more involved thanks to the tracking shot. This means that the camera follows the subject, in this case Theodore, which makes the viewer feel as if it were walking along with Theodore and Samantha.

Close-ups: Theodore goes on his first date since his divorce with a beautiful funny and intelligent woman (Olivia Wilde). They spend the evening together and during the last part of Theodore’s date  there is a close-up on his date’s face that shows her disappointment in him, in comparison to earlier close ups of her face in which she is shown to be smiling, laughing and having a great time. 

In fact, much of the film is shot with Theodore’s face in close ups because the actor uses his face to express how he is feeling when there is not a lot of dialogue. The viewer can see in his eyes that he is sad or angry. In addition, with scenes with Samantha, Theodore is also mirroring Samantha´s expressions in their dialogues, because she doesn't possess a physical form, and thus Theodore is almost unintentionally acting for both of them, which can be easily shown in the close-ups. 

·      Sound (diegetic, non-diegetic, internal diegetic)

Diegetic: In 1hr40m38s there is a screeching sound coming from a kettle just when Samantha starts describing her new feelings to Theodore. This sound makes the scene more unsettling, and makes the viewer feel uneasy and nervous.

Internal diegetic: Samantha’s voice can be an internal sound because in some cases, when Theodore listens to her thanks to his earphone, he is the only one able to listen to her. This is a key tool in the movie because it transmits a sense of intimacy between Theodore and Samantha to the viewers. What is also interesting is that this factor allows the relationship to be quite private, which could point to how unconventional human-to-OS relationships are seen and understood. 

·      Lighting (low-key, high-key, shadows/light)

High-key: The use of high-key lighting is used during Theodore’s flashbacks of his life when he was married. The images in his flashbacks are very bright alluding to happier times in his life. During this flashbacks the viewer understands that Theodore’s life before had more joy because of his wife Catherine.

Shadows/light: Los Angeles looks futuristic thanks to the light and shadows in the movie; this also makes LA look kind of dreamy. The contrast between light and shadow is very low, which makes the images look soft and warm looking. Most of the movie uses a lot of light during the scenes in where Theodore is happy and shadows are used during scenes where Theodore is sad or where he is being intimate with Samantha.

·      Sets and Props

Earphones: This is the device used by Theodore to communicate with Samantha--without them it would be impossible for the viewer to understand how Theodore can hear her voice. Earphones also symbolize isolation and loneliness; Theodore uses them to speak with Samantha, making their relationship private and isolated. Earphones are used not only by Theodore and Samantha but also by everyone else around them which makes it more difficult to interact with each other. In scenes like in the metro, everyone is shown with earphones and they are all fixed into their own devices, which gives the sense of isolation and lack of interaction between people. 

Sets: The scene in the beach sets an image of happiness. A sunny day crowded with smiling people walking in all directions. Theodore sleeping relaxed on the sand, and then waking up to a beautiful melody Samantha made for him. This is the set where Theodore has his happiest moment in the film. 

·      Acting

Joaquin Phoenix: Known for his rather detached facial expressions, Phoenix´s ability to act with his eyes is a key factor in his performance as Theodore Twombly. There are many shots in the film that are solely on Phoenix, lying in bed for example, and we get to see through his eyes how his relationship with the world is growing, or his love for Samantha is blossoming. On another note, Phoenix delivers a very subtle

Color palette in frame

performance because he plays a rather solitary character, who struggles to make relationships with people, from co-workers to friends to love interests, etc, after his divorce. Phoenix is known to play rather strange characters, like in ´Inherent Vice´ (where he plays a doped-up detective), or in ´The Master´ (where he plays a shell-shocked war veteran). This `clean-slate´ technique allows us as viewers to form a much quicker bond with the character, both through the story and on an emotional level. Therefore, Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore is an excellent casting choice, not only because of his timid and curious nature, but his raw emotional connections to the people, or OSes, around him.

Scarlett Johansson: Although she is not seen on screen throughout the film's two-hour running time, Johansson arguably has one of the most important roles in the film. She voices Samantha, an OS designed to fit to any consumer`s needs. Johansson is tasked with a very difficult role because she cannot be seen, only heard by the viewers. Her ability to express the emotions without a face or body allows us to connect with her on a purely an emotional level, not a physical or visual one. Johansson breathes life into a character using only her voice, which demonstrates her ability to act using only her voice. 

Universal themes, issues and big questions…

Her is a film that explores the technology of the future, especially AI. The film centers on operating systems (OS1), which possess consciousness; these OSes are capable of thinking, evolving, creating, and feeling. This film raises the question: can feelings be programmed? Samantha and the other OSes claimed to have feelings, but even Samantha questions whether what she is feeling is real or not, are OSes capable of having feelings? Are those feelings the same as human feelings?

Isolation due to technology is an issue that arises in Her. The film is centered in a lonely technological future where everyone relies on their devices (cellphone, earphone and OSes). Despite things appearing more practical for their daily lives, human connections are getting lost. Everyone is confined to their own technological bubble, humans are isolated and mislead into believing their relationships with AI are subtle replacements for genuine human connection.

Her explores the theme of love in a variety of forms. After being married with a human Theodore attempts a new form of relationship with his OS. In doing so, he immediately loses the physical aspect of a “normal relationship”, the ability to look into someone´s eyes, to hold their hand, to kiss them; but does that make his relationship with Samantha less real? Was Theodore’s relationship with Samantha real? Was Amy’s friendship with her OS real, are they programed to like you? What is “love” with an OS?

Word count: 1353

Color palette in scene

Film Review

With its beautiful shots contributing to a very optimistic view of the future, and its original throwback to a classical era of costumes, Her is a beautiful film that highlights the scale and density of being a lonely person in a world that is always moving. This is clearly an artistic decision by Jonze, who includes long shots of only Theodore in the frame, whether walking through the busy streets in his bright red coat, or when talking to his OS1 Samantha, Theodore is often our forced point of focus. With his talent and ability to act with his eyes, Phoenix does an excellent job at moving the story along, in what could have been a disaster with a less talented actor. Additionally, Her´s beautiful colors, like red and yellow, and its pacing allow us to be completely transported into this future, one that contains so many new and bright things to see and experience.  With its 2 hour run time, an aspect that got annoying after a while was the voice of Theodore´s OS, played by Scarlett Johansson. A voice that is both deep and sensual can be a good tool for this actress in a scene, but with the monotonous way of speaking through a smile, the voice gets quite frustrating to listen to. This does not lower our overall enjoyment of the film, which we found to be fascinating and scary at the same time. 

Rating:    4/5 Stars  

 Connections to course material

1.     Samantha can be described as a sentient being because she can experience different things, love for example, and she is capable of sensing and responding to the world and can experience “qualia”. A sentient being is someone who has the ability to feel, perceive and experience subjectively. Theodore knows she is a sentient being but he can’t quite understand how this works but he accepts it and even says sorry to her when she got her “feelings hurt”.

2.     Samantha has a consciousness and it even says so in the advertisement Theodore sees that makes him decide buying the new OS1, the man advertising the OS1 says, “It’s not just an operating system, it’s a consciousness.” In this movie Samantha and her consciousness are immaterial because she is not made of any material and she can basically “live” anywhere. Samantha's consciousness shifted from being material to immaterial. 

3.     Samantha does not enter in the Uncanny Valley and this is mainly because she has no body. Theodore feels empathy for Samantha because of the way she talks to him and how she is programmed to “be” like a human. The fact that she doesn’t have a body instead of making things weird makes it easier for Theodore to talk to her. This might be because the fact that she is not physically there allows people like Theodore not to feel very compromised and they don’t have to deal with human social interactions. Samantha and the other OSes crosses the Uncanny Valley because people sometimes even forget that they are interacting with OSes, and they don’t really care that they are interacting with an OS. The response of humans towards the OSes is not disgust, but empathy. However, when the viewer sees Samantha as a phone in a scene, Samantha falls in the uncanny valley because when we don't see her as a phone it is easier to think of her as another human, but once we see her "physically" as a phone then we understand that she is far from being a human but still acts like one.

Questions

·  Since Samantha has consciousness, cognitive and metacognitive ability, should she be granted personhood?

·  Can human beings truly love an AI being?
·  Do you consider humans might lose control over AI if they become self-aware selves?

    

Additional Links

            “Loving AI” is a project that is developing AI software to have new interactions with people in both a compassionate and loving way. This project additionally helps people understand themselves as well as their self-transcendence. The AI being used is “Sophia” and she has been given what is labelled as “personality content” such as the ability to speak, think and behave like a human being, which will enable loving interactions with humans.

            http://lovingai.org/

“Why human-robot relationships are totally a good thing” is an article that talks about how robots are a positive thing for the future. The author of this article explores how robots are designed to be loved by humans and how they produce empathy within us. It talks about robots and their positive impact on society, for example robots that are used as companions for elderly people and robots that teach social skills to mentally ill people.

            https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/why-human-robot-relationships-are-good-for-us/

Works Cited

            “Her (2013).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imbd.com/title/tt1798709/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1.

            Laverty, Christopher. “A Comfortable Future: The Costume Design of Her.” Clothes on Film, https://clothesonfilm.com/a-comfortable-future-the-costume-design-of-her/34652/. Accessed 11 March 2018.