#BRWC10: 2013 In Film – Her

15th August 2018

By Anthony Reyes.

There are years of your life that stand out during the course of your life. The reasons vary from person to person, good or bad, with cause or without. As a person who has grown up with the love of film in my heart, such years exist. For example, 1994 was my birth year. Some of the films that has had the most influence in my life was released in this year as well such as the Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, the Lion King, and Forrest Gump. These were films that fostered my love of cinema. But 2013 was a year in cinema that showed me a path to discover the power of this medium.

I’ve discovered through the years that the films that stick to me the most are the ones that comment on or portray unique perspectives about what it means to be alive, to be living in this moment in whatever particular place you’re in. Additionally, the theme of love in all of its many forms and motivations is something I always look forward to exploring in film. There have been many films that fit this description, that have etched themselves into my heart and caused me to smile, ache, and cry like nothing else. Many of those films were also released in 2013, a year that reminded why I watch films and the kinds of answers I’m looking for when I do. While 2013 saw the passing of Roger Ebert, one of the most renown film critics of all time, it was filled with films that he would have been proud to see. My favorites include Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity, Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, and James Pansoldt’s The Spectacular Now. Each one of these films have given me moments of clarity, horror, beauty, and genuine empathy. They were films I still rewatch to this day to remind myself that films have a purpose. They are not just experiences to pass the time or to turn your brain off and forget about the world for two hours. They can be portraits that help us understand this strange life that has been given to us. They can be a sobering, transformative experience that will make you a different person that you were before you saw the film. All the films listed above give me this experience. But there was one specific film that came out in 2013 that stands out from the rest of them, to my pleasant surprise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzV6mXIOVl4

In this piece celebrating 2013 as part of BRWC’s 10th birthday, #BRWC10, my purpose is to list all the reasons why Spike Jonze’s Her is one of my favorite films of all time, and the film that sealed 2013 as a great year for film. As I’ve said already, my most beloved films are the ones that talk about being alive and more importantly love. From being an incredibly sensitive and empathetic to an adult who is constantly in conflict with his growing cynicism and doubt in humanity, my ideas of love are always changing. Now, who would have thought that that quirky, futuristic film about a man who falls in love with his artificially intelligent operating system would have such an effect on me and how I think about love? But after watching Spike Jonze’s science fictiony drama, I realized that I had no idea what love was. Sure I have had my own relationships and all the other manifestations of love in my life, but I never thought about fleshing out my own clear-cut definition of love. Her is a great film to explore this topic because it goes beyond the idea that being in love is only a human trait. To me, it tells me that love is part of being alive, a consistent truth in all living things. Anyone who has ever experienced loneliness or insecurity can relate deeply with this film, but the lesson in Her is that love transcends any possible definition that humans come up with. As Scarlett Johansson’s Samantha, the operating system, falls in love with Joaquin Phoenix’s Theodore, you can tell that she doesn’t really know what she is feeling. It’s possible that she thought she was in love because Theodore opened a door for her that introduced her to a whole new dimension of feeling, and that’s why towards the end she explains that she has outgrown any expectations or feeling that Theodore can give her. It’s a mind-boggling film, one that will keep you thinking about what human beings are made of, and if we can ever fully understand love?

I could go all day about this film and believe me when I say that I have before. Love is a difficult thing to capture within the boundaries of a single photo, not to mention in an entire film. But Her is a special film. It reminds me that love is fluid. Love fills in the empty spaces in our hearts. It is what makes us alive. In the final moments of Her when Theodore is writing a letter to his ex, he takes every ounce of resentment and pain out of his heart. He understands that just the fact that he once had someone to love and that loved him back was one of the best gifts he could have ever received, or that any of us could ever receive. 2013 remains a special year for film and to me personally because it taught me how to examine my own definition of love, and therefore changed me as a person forever.

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