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« Her », a modern melancholic and poetic love story
« Her », mysterious title, mysterious poster with only Joaquin Phoenix’s head, everything to catch my curiosity. Produce by Spike Jonze (the one who know this guy before this movie can raise one hand :D) and release in 2013, this movie get a grad really high on Rotten Tomatoes (8.5/10) and it is the same on almost every websites.
So let’s see the trailer to have a first taste of this movie.
The story take place in a close future. Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is a solitary and introverted man working for an agency which write personnel words and letters for you family, friends and love, just like it was you holding the pen. Despite his amazing skills to draw with perfection strong feelings for others on paper, he is not capable to do the same for himself, for his life, so his life is sad, without love and only fool of regrets and melancholy. Moreover, due to the divorce demand coming from his child love Catherine (Rooney Mara), Theodore finally let him convince by buying an OS, an operating system, like an A.I. which is really trendy. It is elaborated to adapt and evolved itself according the owner, so in this way you can have someone to talk, breaking the loneliness, someone that can understand you perfectly. He decide that this OS will be a women and she names it(her)self as Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). Theodore is fascinated by Samantha’s skills to adapt and evolved along their endless discussions, in order to be in phase with him. They become more and closer. Samantha became the prefect incarnation of everything he was searching for in a partner, available, paying attention about what he say, about him, always available, curious, interested, sharring same tastes and desires. He will fall in love of her, and thanks to her He will evolved, learn to let go and move one about the past of his life and live back looking strait forward, looking at the future.
For me this movie is a magnificent beauty UFO. I heard a lot about this movie, only good things, but without any special details about the deep story of the movie. Now, after seeing it, I understand better why it was quite difficult to explain in details this movie.
First of all, the poster can be a little bit confusion because you see only the face of Joaquin, it is quite minimalist but you don’t have to be scary 😉 Because this movie really worth the shot. The cast is not too big so in this way you have only good actor with of course Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johanson, Rooney Mara but also Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde and Chris Pratt.
This movie speak about human relations. There is no action at all, no violence, nothing that you can find generally in a blockbuster, and it is really pleasant (I did not say that I do not like those movies, it is just it’s great when you have different types of movies, and with this one it change your movies habits). We are following the main character with attention, everything is calm, without a lot of music, and you just have to focus on the speech and the feeling of the Theodore. I have to admit that the rhythm is slow, but everything move sufficiently rapidly to not be bored. We discovered step by step the past of the character, his personals problems and the event that push him to buy this OS. The producer depict a believable world that could be our close future, sterilized, where human relations would be only behind a screen, cold and impersonal. Jonze managed to draw a poetic cyber-romance between Theodore and Samantha. OS are showed like a solution, an alternative to the human loneliness where they locked them up by themselves.
Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson are almost the only characters on the screen (more or less for Scarlett :p) and they carrying the all movie by themselves. Phoenix is astonishing during all the movie, with a highly sensitive interpretation. He fined his soul mate with Samantha, someone that can listen, laugh, share and take care of him. It is cute, adorable and touching. We are the witnesses of the love bounding Theodore and Samantha, and also the emancipation of Samantha. It is a 22nd century love story touching and we cannot resist.
To conclude about the movie “Her”, I think it is a kind of movie that you like or dislike without intermediate point of view, because it is a non-conventional movie compare to all the actual productions. But if you like love stories, and great actor performance, I can assure you that you will like this movie!
There is a philosophical dimension (with poetry) because Jonze push us to think about the actual relation between people in the society, the people we love, the people that we encounter during our life, and sometimes it is better to be honest with ourselves in order to move one and not being stuck in the past.
I think you understood my point of view, I loved this movie. I have been touched. Joaquin really surprised me with his sensibility. If you asked me to resume this movie with one sentence I will say quite simply « Close your eyes, press the play button and listen » 😉
« Her » deserve a big 18/20, this is a beautiful movie that you have to see!
Enjoy!
Desmond Andrew Green
« The Grand Budapest Hotel », I would book another room with pleasure!
Wes Anderson is a director that we can consider not well known in general until few years ago. He was more or less comparable to an “author movies”, an underground director and not in the front of the stage with some blockbuster or big budgets movies. I was quiet interesting to discover his universe even if this one seemed quite “special”, I mean that there is no average opinion, you like or you do not like. I hesitated, movies after movies, but when The Grand Budapest Hotel came up on the screen, I do not know but it inspired me, sending good vibes. So I leap the gap and I dive in the Anderson’s universe, and I really do not regret!
Let see the trailer.
The story start in the present time where we see a student girl coming close to a memorial of a writer, she is holding the Memories of this men in her arms, and we only see the name “The Author”. She starts to read the first chapter of this book, transporting us in 1985 in the office of “the Author” where he tell us the tale of one of his journey in 1968 in the Grand Budapest Hotel. This hotel is in a fictional republic named Zubrowka, situated in the Alps in Europe. The younger version of this author visiting this Grand Budapest Hotel which is the shadow of what it was in the past. At this time it doesn’t have his magnificence anymore, and the customers are rare. The Author meet the actual director of the Hotel, Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) with whom he share a diner where Zero tell him his story, how he became the director and why he do not want to sale the Hotel even if it not working well. This story start in 1932 thus we discovered the young Zero becoming the lobby boy of the Grand Budapest Hotel at this time mighty and beautiful, and the place is running by the devoted concierge Mr. Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes).
The movie start like this and I can’t tell you more because I will spoiled too much and break the magic.
I have to admit that after this first ten minutes a little bit disconcerting, I was afraid because I wanted to know more about this story but I dreaded that I had started a movie to messy and boring. Let me explain, I speak about a disconcerting movie regarding the strange beginning acting like a reflexion in a mirror, seeing this own reflexion …etc…etc… (The student reading a book, and the author speaking about himself younger…etc…). It was quite confusing for me but then we managed to catch the train and everything is finally understandable (If you are a fan of Wes Anderson maybe it will be easier for you). After that we can enjoy the wingspan of this movie, and it is wonderful, it is really magical.
There is numerous characters, with a real working back story and depict by an incredible cast, just few names, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willen Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Edward Norton, Léa Seydoux, Jeff Goldblum, Tony Revolori …. They are all very endearing, the lobby boy make us live a magical story, a fabled story, close to a Walt Disney movie, and the actor Tony Revolori is bluffing. However, the most impressing performance come from Ralph Fiennes as Mr. Gustave. We hate him the second he appeared on the screen, but then, we realized he has a heart, a big one underneath their concierge jacket, and moreover, his behavior is really funny and crazy. I really enjoyed that.
All those characters are gathered in this movie to get something theatrical, like a Vaudeville. Some background and camera views are sometimes like a puppet theater, or in pasteboard, and even sometimes some kinds of games of shadows. But you do not have to imagine that I described a low quality movie, it is really not the case, it is more like a wake up dream. We are dumbfounded, entertain, affected, shacked… I could going one like this for while regarding as I liked this movie.
This movie mixed easily comedy (I could say slapstick comedy) and drama. Sometimes we do not know if we have to cry or laugh, but it doesn’t matter, the purpose of a movie isn’t to instill feeling whatever they are? And it is totally successful! Wes Anderson tell us a story, or more precisely a tale, and he managed to take us so easily in his world that it is perturbing. I really recommend to see this movie because you will like it whatever your movies taste are. It is a movie for every taste without losing to provide his flavor. It is a really good job, and a big surprise that push me to see other Anderson’s movies. I give him an 18/20 well deserved.
See you soon!
Enjoy
D.A.G.
PS. Do not hesitate to let comments 😉
A Sad Picture Of A Red Sky 