so yesterday i spent 80 precious minutes watching a film about helvetica. yes, the font. the film is called 'helvetica' and it's an amazing documentary. i think too many filmmakers utilize documentary film as a means of advancing an agenda, imposing clear biases on what they claim to be facts. it was very refreshing to see a documentary film that does not do that. it might be true that the subject matter does not exactly lend itself to much of an opinion, but the very fact that the film was beautiful, even with such a seemingly mundane topic, is important.
rather than pick a controversial topic that is bound to draw in audiences and then put a spin on it which ignores entirely what the truth might be (even when in some cases showing the plain truth would have been sufficient) in favor of fancy editing strategies, this film really let its subject matter speak for itself. it's clean, effective, and soothing. for once, a documentary film that doesn't try to get its audience to go out and DO something.
in many ways, it reminds me of "fast, cheap and out of control", which in itself is quite a marvel. without trying to, the film presents a lot of depth, simply because the audience is allowed to imbue its own ideas on what is being presented. how refreshing for someone to allow me to think for myself for a change. we are free not to believe what is said, since the film presents a range of ideas and doesn't try to impose the authority of its subjects on us. but most importantly, the film is casual. it's light. yet i left feeling as if i saw something quite amazing.
urgh. the above is quite ineloquent. too much statistics is dulling my ability to write.
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