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| From net India Today ePage, Film review. See below |
Born a social animal, the world he has inherited, is one where the term social has evolved to give new meanings. Be it machinery, technology or human beings, social interaction and communication has withstood time to make itself available to engage in new ways, one never thought one could.
‘Her’ is a story that lends itself to what urban human life has become, as the years go by. It builds on what has been happening in the last two or more decades, as the internet has grown to occupy our lives in more than hundred ways. Although the film, is a Science Fiction, and is set in 2025, the reel realities are real today.
Theodore Twombly, recently divorced from his long term relationship with his wife is coming to terms slowly with his life as a single man. For company he is naturally engaged with his handy, through which he is able to meet women, who are able to keep him entertained emotionally and sexually, as a pastime, until a very brilliant OS system takes over his life. The Smart Operating System is voice and emotion sensitive and responds to Theodore as Samantha. An inanimate OS, now speaking, talking, laughing, loving, indeed, even making love, to Theodore, slowly drives away the blues with constant company, sensitive care and being there all the time – only thing is, it is an Operating System and not a real girl of flesh and bone.
Theodore is rather adjusted now, but can happiness last for life? Sadly, the OS is soon outdated and is getting junked and hence, his companion, Samantha, too, will have to go.
Delivered a double whammy, Theodore turns to his real life friend, who has herself just been dumped by her boyfriend. The two rejected souls, both human, are now going to get together, thank god, in flesh and blood, with challenging emotions and real relationships.
On the one hand, ‘Her’, brings to reality, the condition of the human being. When family and friends have been replaced by virtual ones, the world of friends and acquaintances have truly grown large and yet, not one, is here to touch and feel; it is you and you alone, who has a relation with these virtual community and whatever emotions have to be exchanged, it is you and your imagination only that makes it possible.
Here lies a great barrenness of being – the loneliness of being one, you, yourself and your truth only. Nobody can challenge that; it is yours as long as you sustain it, it is gone when you don’t. No one will cajole you to stay, be there. No one will miss you; nor anyone think of you, except you, yourself.
But on the flip side, there is a story that fits our times, when human relationships have become like instant coffee. Once drained out, and the coffee finished, so is the relationship. The virtual world provides the only escape from the frequent gains and losses, the landscape of a life so hurried that even love, or love making at long languid afternoons, or through the night, is just not a luxury the fast moving, multi-tasking modern, masses in urban cities can afford any more.
So, is virtual, telephonic sex, the way forward? Like it or not, when time and space are not available, and the leisure of a slowly simmering love, warming up the heart and flesh is hard to come by, the sultry voice that guides you to your climax at the same time, filling your ears with the hard breathing of the sound of an orgasm, is far better than wallowing in a life all by yourself.
Director Spike Jones, has made a good attempt to bring out the acute loneliness of our times, at the same time, placing the possibilities before the viewer, but finishing with the triumph of the human spirit that bond in flesh and blood.
You are left with a choice; take what best suits you, naturally.
See it; feel it; do it!
Cast:
Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore Twombly
Amy Adams as Amy
Rooney Mara as Catherine
Olivia Wilde as Amelia
Scarlett Johansson as Samantha (voice)
Chris Pratt as Paul
Matt Letscher as Charles
Sam Jaeger as Dr. Johnson
Luka Jones as Mark Lewman
Kristen Wiig as Sexy Kitten (voice)
Bill Hader as Chat Room Friend #2 (voice)
Spike Jonze as Alien Child (voice, credited as Adam Spiegel)
Portia Doubleday as Surrogate Date Isabella
Soko as Isabella (voice)
Brian Cox as Alan Watts (voice)
Read another review written by Aekta Kapoor:
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