Her (2013)

Theodore, the protagonist in Spike Jonze's Her says to his friend, he has always been confused and he shares hurt and confusions to the near ones. He says he likes being in marriage and that’s why he delays for signing the divorce papers. He still finds explanations to defend her arguments. Theodore, as his employer in Beautifilhandwrittenletters.com puts him is half man and half woman. But he bears a woman’s heart.

Theodore lives in future. He is lonely. In future, computers, smart phones, and other devices are voice-activated. People wear headset in one of their ears and give command to the Operating System. The OS, Theodore uses, requires him to speak simple commands such as “Read email” or “Delete,” .It helps him to find suitable partners for sex chat also. We soon realize that, Theodore is sexually starved. Then he finds out a new OS which is an artificially intelligent operating system, called OS1 and produced by a company called Element Software. The OS1 meant to learn and mature through experience, growing smarter and more sophisticated with use. “It’s not just an OS. It’s a consciousness” says  the tagline for OS1.Same consciousness emerges as Samantha, being voiced by Scarlet Johansson, from the OSI. She reads his emails, edits his work and reminds him that he has an appointment in five minutes.

The relationship deepens gradually. But his real woman date that follows soon after devastates him emotionally. He decides to stick with his gadget almost immediately and the gadget turned woman raises to the occasion and falls in love with him right away. The first time they have sex, the screen fades to black. This is second time we see Theodore having Phone sex .In the first scene, provocative nude photographs of some pregnant celebrity, that he had seen earlier, supported him for an orgasm. But here we see darkness. Samantha has no physical form. Theodore refuses to accept any physical imaginary form of Samantha as well. He throws out Isabella with whom Samantha had an agreement for physical manifestation. We realize how genuine Theodore is. We understand how much this man feels for Samantha, when he accepts to his estranged wife that, he dates an OSI. She accuses him for not being capable for human emotions. We see that, she is not completely wrong. Theodore cannot take failures. He is confused. He confuses people around him and hurts them.

The scenes that follow, offers us an insight on the scary future in waiting. Not just Theodore, everyone in the street has OSs and they all seem to be inclined with these imaginary relationships also. Samantha confesses that, she has around 8000 men under her wings and with 641 she is in relationship. We know her reply before being uttered. We see the disappointment in the face of Theodore. But we think about Theodores at that point. Desperately lonely Theodores in the street, looking for perfection, love and companionship.   Theodors of present.  The Theodor in me.

Theodore is a professional letter writer. He writes beautiful emotional letters. But when it comes to him, he fails to express his real feelings. We see him learning this quality from Samantha who articulates her every emotion in words. The movie closes when Theodore finishes a letter to his estranged wife. He sounds clear and present. He has no escapism now. He and his lonely friend sit and watch the lonely city from the terrace is last scene.

Director leaves no empty space in the movie. Its emotional balance is perfectly intact. But I don’t think that, it’s a love story. I rather call it an exploration to a real consciousness. Samantha’s evolution and Theodore’s gradual ascent to his own realities provide a great understanding of human existence. It also teaches that, perfection is   farce. Cinematography and the tone of the movie present the future in vivid terms. Joaquin Phoenix perfects Theodore. I don’t think anybody else can bring so much wind to this solitary man.

I enjoyed it thoroughly…..