Film Feature: Her (2013)
Set in the age of technology where Artificial Intelligence had already been a part of our everyday life, this film by Spike Jonze shows how love can make someone break boundaries as a lonely writer developed feelings of love to his personified AI assistant.
The film introduces the main protagonist, Theodore Twombly, as a lonely letter writer in the final stage of his divorce who likes to play games in his free time. After passing by an advertisement for the first artificially intelligent operating system or OS1, he decided to give at a try and from that moment on, he began to question himself for his feelings towards Samantha, the voice behind his personified AI assistant as they grew closer to each other. Samantha, being an AI, has the capacity to learn through a person's thought patterns and learn what and how to respond. Thanks to this, the lonely Theodore started feeling a little less lonely as he has now a company who listens to his ramblings about life. If only the story could just end with the two being happy with each other. Too bad, as the story unfolds, the audience get to witness how feelings of doubt arise between the two of them as Theodore tries to find his sense of reality while Samantha learns to develop human-like emotions despite being an AI and begins to seek for a sense of identity.
Cinematography-wise, the film boasts with its A+ shots of the city's exterior and interior, giving off a soft, futuristic vibe. The office interior where Theodore works for is also a treat to the eye as it is filled with orange and yellow hues which is a total opposite to what emotions the main character portrays, especially in his long shots. The choice of music in this film is also something I want to praise as it added flavor and depth to each scene. From the background music to the film's official soundtracks, everything just fits perfectly. I especially love the song Samantha sung in one of the scenes that it made me learn to play it in the ukulele. In case you want to listen to the original version, it's called “The Moon Song” by Karen O.
This is a film that does not follow the conventional love between two humans, opening the audience to the idea that love is not limited to a certain set of rules which makes it a must-watch in my opinion.