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Her (2014)
General Information
Completed On: 14 Feb, 2014
Duration: 2 hr 6 min 0 sec
Genres: Fiction
Language: English
Country: United States
Submitted By: Anna Maurice
Festival Rating
Few movies capture the magic and the heartbreak of falling in love in an unexpected, mind-bending way; HER is one of them. Though it's set in a sterile, somewhat disembodied future, where people seem permanently outfitted with earpieces connected to their computers, bidding them cull through their emails, make appointments, pick songs, its essential question is about something entirely human: the joy and frailty of love. Spike Jonze's film is a delicate meditation on love, but it's jubilant, too. It's also unpredictable in the best way, skipping the simplistic solutions for something more interesting and complicated.
Joaquin Phoenix commits completely to his character, exuding a sadness and vulnerability that feels particular to Theodore but entirely understandable. He's the walking personification of the audience's experience with defeat and sorrow. You can almost feel his fibres awakening again from their doleful slumber when Samantha comes into his life, adding order, (yes, that is her job), but also injecting a spirited companion to his ruminations. Johanssen also deserves kudos for lending Samantha personality and verve even though we never see her. In a way, Her is just as much about allowing yourself to be free as it is allowing someone else into your life. How wonderful that a movie that is, in one way, about how we surrender too much, too often to technology also reminds us to get in touch with our own humanity.
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DirectorsSpike Jonze
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WritersSpike Jonze
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Film TypeFiction
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GenresSci-Fi, Romance, Drama
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Runtime2 hours 6 minutes 0 seconds
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Completion Date14 Feb, 2014
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Production BudgetUSD
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Country of OriginUnited States
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Country of Filming
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Film LanguageEnglish
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Shooting Format
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Aspect Ratio
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Film ColorColor
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Student ProjectNo
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First-time FilmmakerNo
Director's Biography
Adam Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, photographer, and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television.
Jonze's fourth feature film, the romantic science-fiction drama Her, was released in December 2013. The film was his first original screenplay and the first he had written alone, inspired by Charlie Kaufman by putting "all the ideas and feelings at that time" into the script. It stars Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Scarlett Johansson. The film follows the recently divorced Theodore Twombly (Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with a seemingly intuitive and humanistic female voice, named "Samantha" (Johansson), produced by an advanced computer operating system. Samantha was originally voiced by Samantha Morton during its production but was later replaced by Johansson. Jonze provided his voice to a video game character in the film, Alien Child, who interacts with Theodore. The film's score was composed by Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett.
Her was met with universal acclaim from critics. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter praised Jonze for taking an old theme "the search for love and the need to 'only connect'" and embracing it "in a speculative way that feels very pertinent to the moment and captures the emotional malaise of a future just an intriguing step or two ahead of contemporary reality." Scott Foundas of Variety opined that it was Jonze's "richest and most emotionally mature work to date". At the 86th Academy Awards, Jonze was nominated for three Academy Awards for Her, winning for Best Original Screenplay and receiving further nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Song for co-writing "The Moon Song" with Karen O. Jonze won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay at the 71st Golden Globe Awards.
