Her- Jaw-Dropping Beauty from Spike Jonze









I can’t help but sound tediously pretentious when I say ‘Her’ is pure cinematic beauty, but there is no other way of describing Spike Jonze’s genuine masterpiece. It doesn’t quite fit into any genre, it is sci-fi, but uses the sci-fi in the same way any film uses its world, it is almost a screwball comedy but brutally sad and melancholy at times. No matter what your opinion on Jonze as a director, he is definitely undeniably unique, his films don’t quite fit into what you see in Hollywood and that is why he excels as he takes risks and explores narratives that aren’t conventionally appealing but manages to embody them with simple beauty. If you relax and let ‘Her’ sweep you away in its visual precision and beautiful world, you will be met with one of the most thematically sublime films I have ever seen.





The concept of ‘Her’ is admittedly quite alienating, it feels like an unimaginative ‘Black Mirror’ episode but Jonze takes pleasure with the ‘How’ rather than getting bogged down with the ‘what’, unlike ‘Black Mirror’ which spends so much time on its societal and technological message ‘Her’ is a human message through and through. The thematic scope is incredibly challenging, Jonze delves into the human condition, exploring loneliness, connections and the complexity of relationships both platonic and romantic. He balances these themes and ideas with an incredibly compelling narrative, the pacing is marvellously meticulous with each scene playing an important factor in world-building and character development. The narrative itself plays with conventional understandings of the romance genre, for what you expect the film to be, it leans into that top extenuate its thematic drive, rather than trying so hard to challenge and subvert your expectations it uses them as a meta-storytelling device to pursue the thematic angle. This does result in some plot elements being quite predictable, the narrative beats are sort of what you expect and predict, yet the thematic angle Jonze takes is the really unexpected angle.





At the core of this film’s beautiful woven narrative and thematic ambition is a revolutionary performance from Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore who completely makes this film into what it is. There is something effortlessly sympathetic about Theodore as a character, Phoenix portrays loneliness through simple facial expressions and just the way he responds to his life and situations. The way Theodore plays a video game or the way Theodore talks to an old friend, the way he walks down the street, the way he looks out of his balcony all demonstrate a quality about his character, an idea that Phoenix puts forward. It is an admirable performance because Jonze realises he doesn’t need a flashy emotional scene to communicate Theodore as a character or showcase Phoenix as an actor, instead it is all about the simplicity. I’ve never been much of a fan of Scarlett Johannsson as an actor, but ‘Her’ really shows off her skills as a voice actor. Her voice is entrancing and overwhelming to the audience, she feels comforting yet human and the audience’s preconceived notion of her character is challenged due to how human she feels. It is a marvel of the sound design, as they seem to use non-naturalism to surround the audience with her voice, there is no objectivism instead she feels close and almost mesmerizingly real to the audience.





The world-building this film achieves is a showcase of strength in a film that is not setting up a franchise or exploring an IP people are familiar with. It’s really nice attention to detail that fills up the world of the film and creates a broad sense of realism to this sci-fi world. Details like the futuristic occupations the characters have, the new technology that seems conceivable in the future but works to the aesthetic of this world. Jonze also fills his world with a collection of really compelling side characters, Amy Adams plays Theodore’s close friend and confident Amy, who is a real unexpected focus of the film. She is sympathetic and complex and her interactions with Theodore are some of the most memorable scenes in the film.





‘Her’ falls into that category of films that you can pull a shot out of and it looks like a work of art, the visual design is flawless, genuinely perfect and leaves you completely breathless at times. The colour grading pairs with the themes and narrative coordination, the cinematography sticks with Theodore utilising a lot of hand-held camera work to really strike a connection without feeling obnoxious. Shots are framed with a sense of distance, the framing remains wide or close depending on the characters emotional stance, the frame is absorbed with Phoenix’ face when he is happy and leaves it when he feels loneliest. It is just efficient and subtle visual storytelling that adds to the thematic ambition without ever needing to feel like it is reaching for this purpose.





It seems almost impossible to try and pinpoint what makes ‘Her’ what it is, it is one of those rare pieces of cinema where everything just comes together in an overwhelmingly beautiful style. Jonze has a beautiful and the important message he wants to put across, yet he doesn’t favour it over tone or emotion instead combining all these elements to make a melancholy, whimsical and captivating story about love, loneliness and above all the connections we share in this world.



