Her

16 Apr 2023, 715 Words

Released in 2013, diected by Spike Jonze

Introduction

I rewatched this recently, and I have lost count of the number of times I have watched this since 2014. I usually put this on during late nights when everyone is asleep, when it is raining heavily or when the house is extremely quiet. I believe you need some sort of a quiet mental and physical space to let the full effect of the movie’s beauty wash over you ever so slowly.

I am not really trying to convince anyone to watch this movie. Rather, I am trying to explore the reasons for which the movie changes things within me, even today.

Visuals

It is difficult to even paint a picture of how great the visuals are in this masterpiece. I pause the movie so frequently to just look and admire a certain frame. This is actually a really disruptive behaviour, given how the film is a motion film and you are supposed to give your full undivided attention. But that’s just how much it forces me to do so. The colors, the palette, the clothes and oh my, the beautiful people. Frames could be wallpapers on my laptop for years.

The movie sort of takes place in a futuristic setting, but not something that we as an audience won’t be able to grasp with. There are enough familiarities to get settled into the various backgrounds the film puts us through. Larger than life frames. Close up images of the protagonists and the feelings they portray. Nature, lightings, and the quietness of the scenes. They all come together so fluidly.

Dialouges / Conversations

Not a lot of action or even exciting sequences take place throughout the film. The movie is slow and conversations are even slower. However, the depth of the protagonist’s perception of life/world, and the way it is conveyed through his words is like a feather touch.

He mostly holds a conversation with a single entity in the film and they cover a variety of topics. There is this specific conversation about what sharing a life with someone is like, that I love a lot. I think I have the dialouge memorised somehow and it would replay in my head over and over again.

There are also conversations about how people live life, how the protagonists feel about themselves, the things they might or might not ever feel, how vulnerable the male protagonist specifically is and how curious the female protagnoist specifically is and just little bits of everyday conversations.

Also, the male protagonist is a professional letter writer in this film (weird I know, but I wouldn’t spoil why that is) and the movie walks you through his process of writing these letters. You can almost see him touch and feel the relationship that is shared between the parties for whom he writes these letters for. It comes from some well deep within him. Any non-living item, in my opinion, would want to live a life - simply by listening to the words he paints in these letters.

Beautiful People

I don’t know how, but they somehow made everyone so beautiful in this film. Rooney Mara, Amy Adams, Joaquin Phoneix - you name it. These are good-looking people, to begin with, sure, but they were transformed in this film. There is this particular scene of Rooney Mara in a few flashbacks, and omg, I could give my world to simply look at those frames over and over again. The long fringe, the sunlight beaming through those windows to shine on her, the alluring looks she gives, the anxious doubtful glances, the annoyance she portrays and the sadness in her eyes. Oh my god.

But not just her, Joaquin looks amazing too. The long broody walks, quiet stares at those large landscapes, weird little dances, the laughs, him confidently being in his little world, those breaks in his voice, the pain he goes through to fall asleep, the beauty he shares with Roony Mara, and just him being him.

The film director truly made these people magical in his art show.

I am thankful to have watched this movie so many times, and am thankful to have the ability to watch it for so many more. What a gift.