Object #59 - Telephones - When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Dir. Rob Reiner

Communication is key to a good relationship. In our 2017 always-online, always close-to-hand smartphone world, the notion of being unable to communicate with the one you love is a foreign idea. The extreme to which you text/snapchat/whatsapp/call your loved one is unique to each relationship. I've known couples who had an almost constant stream of messages being sent between each other, and I've also known couples who only contact each other once or twice a day. Every relationship is different, and yet each technological iteration (even something as simple as a 'Seen at ___' notification) brings with them their own subtleties and subtext. Technology which aids communication always loses the power of face-to-face communication - a phone call doesn't allow you to see the subtlety of body language and facial expression; a text message has no tone of voice (well, that's debatable to an extent but again - subtleties of the medium); a video call appears face-to-face but dampens that spark that physical closeness brings. All these technologies are ghosts of the real-thing.

All that considered, the beauty of the (first) telephone scene in When Harry Met Sally is that the intimacy of watching a film in bed with your loved one is almost not lost at all, despite the two communicating entirely via hard-phone. Both Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) are apart physically, and both watch Casablanca together on a TV channel. The film pre-dates smartphones, and other early tech such as e-mail are not utilised as communicative aids in the relationship - screenwriter Nora Ephron would later explore this in depth with You've Got Mail, but here, it's a simpler time.

Rob Reiner, a tremendously versatile director of genre has had many successes, including Misery, Stand By Me, and This is Spinal Tap, among others. What I find refreshing about Reiner is that his direction is almost never what we've come to consider as 'outstanding' from our viewing of other, bolder films. He has no virtuoso camera-pans, no ten-minute long-shots, but what he does have is a fine control of camera placement and a hard-to-define knowledge of what makes a good film. A relatively simple editing trick is used in the scene, as we see Harry in bed on the left, and Sally on the right. There is a clear divide between the environments of the two - different bed-sheets, lighting conditions, and wallpaper and yet by placing these two camera angles next to each other we see Harry and Sally in bed, not separately, but together.

Harry and Sally are not in a relationship in this scene, in fact, they are never in a conventional relationship throughout most of the film. In their first meeting, Harry conveys his belief that women and men can never be of equal standing in friendship as a man is always thinking of sleeping with the woman, and so to remain friends (as they meet years later) they never consummate the relationship, remaining open and honest friends - discussing dates, the divide of men/women, and everything and anything. They are a source of comfort to each other in a world of misunderstanding between the sexes, and in this scene it's a phonecall before bed, sharing the brilliance of that most romantic of films - Casablanca.

The shot behind the two places their two heads right next to each other, as if they are embracing like lovers in a relationship do - and so Reiner is quite obviously drawing attention to the love that the two share despite being so far apart from one another. The telephones are the communicative line between the two. and just as in real life, it allows Harry to be that little more frank about Sally's 'high-maintenance' qualities. It isn't criticism intended to harm, it's truth, and one Sally responds to matter of factly: "Well I just want it the way I want it". That ever-elusive movie-magic rears its head here again; maybe it's something to do with the pairing of the scene with that classic of romance, Casablanca, that gives this scene something special - it's a wonderful encapsulation of what makes this film shine - Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Nora Ephron, and Rob Reiner.

Reiner one-ups himself later in the film, as he translates to the screen the four-way conversation between Harry, Sally, and respective close-friends Jess (Bruno Kirby), and Marie (Carrie Fisher). Harry and Sally have slept with each other for the first time and both regret breaking the unspoken rule, and confide in their friends. What makes the scene so funny is that Jess and Marie are in bed together, and each is the close friend of either Harry or Sally, so the conversations, which echo each other like a synchronised dance, could easily be swapped and would lose none of the meaning. 

Jess and Marie only met when a double-date intended to set Jess up with Sally, and Harry with Marie, was inverted, as Jess and Marie hit it off big-time, and Harry and Sally continually failed to see that they are the ones who are perfect for each other. 

It calls back to the earlier telephone scene and visually, with Jess and Marie separating the two, it is clear that that earlier connection between Harry and Sally has been broken. And yet, the conversations are so similar that even in separation the two are clearly perfect for one another as they deal with it in the same way. At one point Harry and Sally even cotton on to the fact that a similar conversation is happening in the background. The best bit of the scene for me is the moment Jess and Marie simultaneously offer a chat over breakfast at their place to deal with their issues, and the two turn to each other willing each other with their eyes to cancel that plan lest Harry and Sally both turn-up - it's hilarious comic timing.

The closest we get to the 'ghosting' of modern technology is by seeing how Harry's attempts to re-connect with Sally are ignored, with only the 'welcome' of an answering machine. Telephones then can be used as tools to ignore communication just as much as tools of communication, and by having these scenes in the film we see how Harry truly wants to reconnect with Sally. Again, Harry is able to say things here that he wouldn't be able to otherwise, even face-to-face, as the answering machine is not just an obstacle to talking to Sally, but a means of letting her hear his point of view. In the end, the two settle their differences face-to-face, and romance blooms. It's an interesting and 'modern' integration of technology with the classic romance film tropes by Ephron, who via two people (and sometimes four) talking, plays to her strengths - killer dialogue, brought faithfully, and robustly to screen by Reiner and the two wonderful leads.