The Oscar-nominated flick Her is about the relationship between a man and a computer operating system (OS) with a female voice and personality. Director Spike Jonze says the movie doesn’t peep into the future but focusses on human relations
How did the concept of a love story between a human being and an operating system occur to youIJ
The initial spark was an article I saw online about 10 years ago, about instant-messaging with an artificial intelligence. I linked to it and we had a little exchange and there was an initial buzz of, ‘Wow, I’m talking to this thing, who is listening to me,’ and then the illusion quickly dissolved and I could tell it was parroting what it had heard before and it wasn’t intelligent, it was just a clever program. But that initial buzz was exciting. Eventually I thought about the idea of a man who’s having a relationship with an entity like that, but a fully formed consciousness, and what could happen, and used that as a way to imagine this love story.
What was the most challenging aspect of making this movieIJ
One of the most challenging aspects of a relationship is being truly honest and intimate and allowing the person you love to be the same. We’re changing and growing all the time, so the question is, how do you allow them the freedom to be who they are, moment to moment, day to day and year to yearIJ
How did Joaquin Phoenix come on-boardIJ
I trust his instincts. Within the first five minutes of talking to him I loved the guy. Joaquin brings sincerity to the role. Even though Theodore holds so much sadness, he also has a capacity for joy and playfulness and it’s a sweet contrast, all of which Joaquin brings to the performance, and more.
Tell us something more about Samantha.
There are so many facets to Samantha. She was created to evolve. And once she’s set in motion, like once we’re all set in motion, there’s no limit to where that’s going to take us and who we’re going to become. She has to be guileless, yet witty, smart and self-possessed, and also sexy and intriguing, while believably developing as an emotional being, and it all has to come through Scarlett’s performance.
What was the thought process behind HerIJ
There are lots of ideas here about technology and the world we live in, the isolation that it can create as well as the connections it creates, and the way we’re changing as a society. But as I was writing the story, I always ended up putting those themes in the background. The high concept always takes a backseat to the relationship between Theodore and Samantha.
Every scene is based in their reality as a couple. We wanted to look at it as a relationship between two individuals and, through them, make a story that looked at love and relationships as complexly and from as many angles as possible. I wanted to touch on some of the needs and fears, the judgments and expectations we bring into a relationship; the things we don’t want to acknowledge, but need anyway.
What was the challenge in presenting a love story when the audience can only see one of the two people involvedIJ
There was only one way it was going to work, and it was entirely dependent on Joaquin and Scarlett. It’s their performances that make the connection and the love between Theodore and Samantha something audiences can really feel.
To have the camera resting on Joaquin’s face and watch him listening to Samantha, and to see his love for her in his expression — to me, that was one of the most exciting aspects of the movie. He’s not only showing how his character feels, but he’s helping to embody her through his response to her. Equally vital is the way in which Scarlett expressed Samantha’s increasing self-awareness solely through a vocal characterisation that starts simply and grows to encompass a rich subtext of feeling: joy, hope, compassion, confidence, jealousy, doubt, frustration, fear.
Could you elaborate on the slight futuristic aspect of the movieIJ
We weren’t interested in predicting or presenting our view of what the future should look like. What was important was creating a future that felt right to this story — a kind of utopian environment. Where everything is clean and colourful seemed to me like an interesting setting for loneliness and disconnection, which is the sort of world we created for the movie.
You have blended the Chinese and Southern California cityscapes. Did that involved heavy digital artistryIJ
There aren’t a lot of visual effects in the film. We added buildings and removed signage from one skyline to another, and there’s a holographic video game that Theodore plays in his living room, but overall it isn’t an effects-heavy movie, especially for something set in the future.