In-depth Film Review | "Lover in the Cloud" - The Interaction between Technology and Contemporary Cities from an Emotional Level

Movie Background and Plot Synopsis

"Lover in the Cloud" is Spike. Jones directed, wrote, and produced an American sci-fi romantic drama, which premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 21, 2013. The script received many nominations and won the 86th Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. This is a work about the love affair between the male protagonist Hildo Tombly (Theodore Twombly ( Zukun Phoenix ) and the artificial intelligence operating system Samantha ( Scarlett Johansson). The game is set in a future Los Angeles, a thriving modern metropolis where technology has become an integral part of people's daily lives, from transactions to intimacy.

Hildo works as a letter writer. After his divorce from his ex-wife Catherine, he lived a materially rich but emotionally empty life, which is like a portrayal of the collective mood of contemporary urbanites. Through the love between Hildo and Samantha, as well as his work, life, and friendship, the director tries to describe how in a technologically advanced society, how technology is integrated into people's daily life and how it interacts with human emotions interactive.

In this work, the director does not magnify the cold, rational and destructive nature of technology, but sincerely reveals the possible appearance of the future society through interactive plots that are sometimes warm, sometimes funny, and sometimes sad. Although technology has caused many negative effects, its invention is always based on the needs of human beings. In any case, in this rapidly changing world, it is no longer possible for us to go back to the traditional way of life, so we might as well take this opportunity to Follow the director from the interaction between technology and humans, and feel the complex emotions in the process.

Contemporary socially distanced relationships

The film kicked off. The actor Hildo walked on a spacious street where people and vehicles were separated. The background was a high-rise building, and the glass windows were dazzlingly lit by the sun, exuding a sense of style in a business district. Wearing the headset, he was very at ease, passing by passers-by while sending and receiving emails by voice.

In the next scene, Hildo stood alone in the swaying subway car. Although everyone was close to each other, his heart was far away. It turns out that the sound of technological products in the ears not only allows human beings to fly freely in the infinite world of time and space, but also builds iron cages, which literally block each other and the connection with the surrounding environment.

People living in the city have a convenient and high-quality life, and the external material is abundant but not lacking. However, when it comes to emotions, the heart is a dry land. Although they long for the irrigation of others, they lack the ability to nourish their emotions. Hildo, who is sensitive and affectionate by nature, became a letter writer, looking at the digital photos sent by customers, hoping to tug at the heartstrings of the recipients with slender words, creating a virtual reality for others that does not necessarily reflect real emotions. relation.

How science and technology can soothe the hearts of urbanites

Unlike other dystopian genre films, in Lover in the Clouds, technology is not described as a cold, rational, world-destroying existence. Apart from her non-existent body, Samantha's other features are almost the same as real people. From the advertisement that appeared at the beginning of the movie, we can know that Samantha was originally created not as a tool, nor as an existence beyond human limits, but as a companion who can listen to you, understand you, and understand you. , they are even "not just an operating system, but a consciousness".

In the dialogue, the operating system has high and low pitches, and has the ability to reveal emotions such as joy, sadness, embarrassment, anger, jealousy, humor, etc., and even breathing, and the way of paused speech due to hesitation, are like living human beings. Crucially, the operating systems in the film, while having strong empathy, do not obey people's opinions in every possible way. The operating systems have their own context for understanding the world, so they can be the objects that the characters in the film are eager to talk to.

In addition to the operating system, many details in the film also interpret technology from different angles. Take e-mail as an example. This is a communication tool that modern people are accustomed to. Although it is convenient for instant messaging, short words and digital information have less artificial warmth.

The result of Hildo’s work is to print and send completed letters to others, carrying delicate text in order to touch the hearts of others and build emotional connections. This approach attempts to remove the "sense of technology" and regain the traditional way of communicating by letters. Ironically, the writing process of this letter, from the paper material, to the imitation handwritten font, and the photo data sent by the customer, all relied on the computer to complete.

Echoing the content of the work, Hildo's workplace is not cold. From the background to the office stationery, it is filled with cute candy-like colors such as red, orange, yellow, coffee, and occasionally blue and green, which looks very colorful. , The mushroom-shaped lampshade placed on the table not only appears in the workplace, but also hangs on the dining table in the Xi's home. The round shape lacks the edges and corners of the geometric shape, which can create a soft feeling in the rigid space, making people unconscious. of relaxation. When Hildo came home from get off work and took off his shoes at the porch to enter the dining room, the lamp slowly turned on a warm yellow light. In the empty room, Hildo was welcomed home.

When Hildo sat alone on the sofa before going to bed and played electric games to kill time, except for the dazzling light from the game projected on the wall, the surrounding was full of darkness. In many empty lives, only technology can bring a little brightness and a little vitality. However, after the power was cut off, the room returned to darkness, with only the lights outside the window that had nothing to do with Xi. At this time, he could only turn on his mobile phone, look for girls on the dating app, and have a simple and neat phone sex.

Technology as part of social relations

Although Hildo has written countless touching letters, in life, he is just a reckless snake who dare not sign a divorce agreement. For a long time, Hildo was afraid of facing emotional conflicts, but he longed to be heard, understood, and loved. He was separated from his wife, and he had a bottomless black hole in his heart.

When he first saw the advertisement of the operating system, Hildo might not have much expectations in his heart. However, as the interaction with Samantha increased, Hildo discovered that Samantha was humorous, witty, and sensitive, which was what he longed for in his heart. Long-standing ideal companion, on the night of a failed date with a Harvard girl, the lonely Hope goes one step further and satisfies his sexual cravings with Samantha's voice sex.

Although Samantha has no physical body, her voice, personality, and her willingness to listen and understand Hildo's personality traits are making him ignite the spark of love. Finally, they officially signed a partnership agreement and spent a good time with each other. Happy time for a while. There is a scene in the film where Xi and Samantha are playing a video game of planetary exploration together. Samantha, the operating system, and the dwarves in the planet are laughing and making trouble, like a happy fragment of father, mother, and children in a small family. .

In the middle of the movie, Hildo's old friend ended an 8-year engagement with her husband due to life friction. Single again, she accidentally discovered the operating system left by her husband, and became close friends with her. When she heard that Hildo admitted that the object of his date was actually an operating system, and even had sex with her, Hildo's friends were also optimistic. Look at and encourage him to pursue what he wants, without caring about the opinions of others. At this point, for both of them, the operating system has entered their lives, becoming the closest companion.

Conclusion: Acceptance and Resistance of Technology in Contemporary Society

When Hildo plucked up the courage to sign the divorce agreement with his ex-wife and shared with her the existence of his new girlfriend, Samantha, the ex-wife thought it was absurd and criticized Hildo for lacking the ability to deal with real interpersonal emotions. ability. However, contrary to his ex-wife, Hildo's friends are happy to accept Samantha's presence, and even go to a picnic with Samantha for a chatty afternoon tea time.

In the latter part of the movie, it is also the end of the relationship between Hildo and Samantha. At this time, Samantha confessed that in addition to Hildo, she was having conversations with 8316 people at the same time and falling in love with 641 people. People exiting the subway station were all talking on their mobile phones, which made Hildo wonder if Samantha was also the partner of one of them? Although the more love poured into Samantha, the deeper his love for Hildo became, but from Hildo's words "We're in a relationship", "I thought you were mine" It can be found that in contemporary society, he is still unable to abandon the social cognition of the one-to-one model of partners.

Samantha, the dwarfs in the game, and the original letters of the letter are all stored in the digital space. Although they exist at some moments, they will disappear after the power is cut off, making it difficult to feel the authenticity of technology. However, in the process of interacting with technological objects, the protagonist in the film also has many emotions, and these feelings are extremely real. In this way, can technology replace the existence of entities such as people and letters? With the collective departure of the operating system at the end of the film, people returned to the days without the company of the operating system, and the director did not give us a clear answer.

In my opinion, technology is like dessert. First, it can be just right. Too much will lead to alienation between people, and too little will make life more monotonous than others. Second, it cannot replace the status of the main dish. , that is, the interaction between people. Although the emotions in the process of interacting with technology are all real, people want to connect with others after all, and technology is just designed to be "anthropomorphic", not real people, although in the process of interacting with others , will suffer many injuries, but as human beings, we still have to face the issues that human beings need to face.

Image source: https://film-grab.com/2014/05/06/her/#

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