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nTitle: Her (2013)
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nDirector: Spike Jonze
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nCast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams
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nIn order to truly understand Her, I suggest you first watch SophianCoppola’s Lost in Translation (2003), you see, there’s a connection betweennboth of these films; one comes as a response of the other. This is not to saynthat you can’t get anything out of watching the film without understanding itsnback story, but you’ll get a whole different perspective on them once younunderstand where they are both coming from. So this is how it goes: once upon antime not so long ago, Sofia Coppola, the youngest daughter of legendary filmndirector Francis Ford Coppola, grew up with quirky music video director named SpikenJonze; their friendship blossomed and grew until in 1999 they ended up gettingnhitched. So anyhow, to make a long story short, their marriage ended in 2003. Innorder to deal with the divorce Sofia Coppola, though denying it a first, wrote andndirected a film that expressed her feelings on the break up; that film ended upnbeing Lost in Translation (2003), which curiously was released on the very samenyear she divorced Jonze.
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nIn Lost in Translation, Scarlett Johansson plays a woman who’s marriednto a photographer, played by a very loopy Giovanni Ribissi. The photographer isnso wrapped up in his career that he completely neglects Scarlett Johansson’sncharacter and she ends up befriending a much older man played by Bill Murray; theynend up developing a platonic romance even though their age difference is huge. Thenloopy, sort of absent minded photographer was actually Sofia Coppola’s versionnof Spike Jonze. The way I see it, that character was a cartoon like version of SpikenJonze, it’s how Sofia Coppola saw Jonze. So if we are to read between thenlines, we can deduct that Coppola felt neglected by Jonze during their marriagenbecause he was so wrapped up in his film career, which was beginning to takenoff back then. “I was trying to figure it out when I was writing that” she saidnin an interview to ONTD. That’s one thing I can say about the Coppola’s: they makenvery personal films that talk about their life experiences, sure they’ll denynthe hell out of it if you ask them, but truth is, they are simply sharing theirnlife experiences with us. Beautiful thing about these films is that even thoughnthey are extremely personal in nature, we can still enjoy them and get a lotnout of them because they are genuine reflections of the human spirit, of whatnit means to be ‘us’. Her is another good example of an extremely personal film; detailing the thoughts and situations that go into a divorce.
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nJonze sets up a shot
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nSo, fast-forward ten years later and now its Spike Jonze’snturn to address how he feels about that divorce. From what I can tell afternwatching Her, I think it’s safe to say that it was Jonze who ended up the most heartbrokennfrom that divorce and he projects himself in the character of Theodore; a verynsensitive man who truly misses his wife and can’t seem to stop remembering thengood times he had with her. This film feels as if ten years later, SofianCoppola still lingers in Spike Jonze’s soul. In that same interview to ONTD ,nSofia Coppola mentions that “Spike didn’t end well” so I’m not just talking outnof my ass here. Jonze was truly broken up and we can definitely pick that upnfrom watching Her. So, it is understandable then that the main character innHer; Theodore Twombly, is mopy and anti-social; he can’t take the fact that he isnabout to divorce his wife Catherine of many years; who by the way looks a hecknof a lot like Sofia Coppola!
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nMany other things let us know that Her was made in responsento Lost in Translation; Scarlett Johansson was the main character in Lost innTranslation, while on Her she plays the voice of the operating system for whichnTheodore falls head over heels for. In the film, Theodore and Catherine grew upntogether which made the divorce that much more difficult, same as with Jonzenand Coppola who also grew up together. Actually, if we want to get reallyndetailed, some shots in the film are extremely similar, starting with Theodore’snroom which looks a heck of a lot like Scarlett Johansson’s hotel room in Lostnin Translation. Point is, if you want to really understand Her, you shouldnwatch Lost in Translation while keeping all these things in mind. Just remember that in Her, Theodore is Spike Jonze’s alter ego, while in Lost in Translation Charlottenwas Sofia Coppola’s alter ego. The difference between the two films is that they are told from different points of view, one film is from the female perspective, while the other shows us the males point of view; which instantly makes both films all the more fascinating to me. It’s like hearing both sides of the story; interesting thing is that both of them make sense in their own ways. They both got interesting points to make, and we can learn a lot from both films.
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nBut trust me, you don’t need to know any of this to enjoynHer, seen without all the context behind it, you can still get a lot out of it.nThe film works on two fronts: it worksnas a comment on relationships, break-ups and male/female dynamics, while at thensame time it throws a bit of commentary on society’s current obsession withnsocial media and technology. Her is not for everybody, its a very cerebral film, which relies heavily on dialog, so if you like that in your films, you’ll love Her. It seems to me that anlot of people where having a difficult time digesting the fact that Theodore wasnfalling in love with a computer program. But you can’t go in thinking this is ansilly premise, after all, this is a science fiction film, we are here to escapeninto a fantasy world where anything can happen. Her takes place in a slightlynfuturistic version of L.A., which by the way, Spike Jonze brilliantly shot innChina, making China look like a futuristic version of L.A. How genius isnthat? So anyways, be ready for a film in which the main character falls for annartificial intelligence. What I loved about it is how Theodore’s obsession withnhis computer program represents our obsession with technology, an obsession thatnonly serves as a way to alienate us from real human contact. Take a bus or a trainnand you’ll see more than half of the people connected to their phones, i-padsnand I-pods, sometimes all at the same time! Are we growing apart as a humannrace? Are we in desperate need to reconnect with our fellow humans? Well yes wenare and I’m glad we have films like Her to point that out.
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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