I was originally resistant to seeing Spike Jonze's new film Her because of the trailers/ads. The idea that the masses needs to be comfortable with twee shots of Joaquin Phoenix spinning around in a circle giggling like a doofus, or dancing in the street joyously to some indie rock hit in order to see the movie as palatable cheapens the whole experience of Her. Quite the opposite effect, the marketing made me NOT want to see the film.
I retract my initial hesitation after seeing it last night. More complex, subtle, sad, stirring and emotional than I ever thought would be possible about a film that looks like it's about someone falling in love with their iPhone. It is not just some kind of remake of 'Electric Dreams':
More than just the story of the rebirth of a man pummeled by an unhappy breakup, Her really gave me food for thought about ideas of dependence of computers/phones/gadgets, the idea of love of a imagined soul/voice instead of a physical form, and loneliness and modern-day isolation.
I take back my previous post about Blue Jasmine and decided that I want Her to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. A truly modern, and truly original, anti-fairytale romance.
We released a song this year (written last year, before I knew about Her) that, in its brief lyrical content, touches on the idea of computers/artificial intelligence/robots becoming human.
"You see/what I see/with new eyes/like a dream/touch me/and my touchscreen"
LINK to the song here/free download: Open Source Robotics (Touch Me)
No comments:
Post a Comment