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Category:    Home > Reviews > Documentary > Industrial Design > Objectified (2009/Plexifilm Blu-ray)

Objectified (2009/Plexifilm Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: C+     Extras: B-     Documentary: B

 

 

Gary Hustwit is a very observant documentarian, looking at the subtly present items that pervade our society without us necessarily knowing it.  So far in his work, the way unnatural discourse weaves its way through society has been his specialty as it was with text and writing in Helvetica.  Now he’s back looking at machines and gadgetry then and now with Objectified (2009), an excellent follow-up to his surprise hit.  You can read more about Helvetica at this link of our Blu-ray coverage:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7141/Helvetica+(2007/Documentary/Graphic

 

 

Fortunately, Objectified is a totally separate piece and you do not have to see the previous work to appreciate it.  Established intricately and at length in its always-compelling 75 minutes, it is a transition in many ways from the world of analog items we use to digital, from usually single-purpose form-fits-design to (yes, you can say post-modern as it fits to enough of an extent) multi-use gadget items.  It is also the tangible and valuable (books, scissors, forks, etc.) versus machines that give you more (or what seems more) but in intangible ways like computers, information and the like.

 

The problem with the latter is that those kinds of devices become dated, aged and depreciate in value in ways the original items did not and yet we swim in a world shared by both and everything like either we come in contact with had to have been designed (ergonomics, buttons, functions, shape, size, etc.) by someone.  Once again, Hustwit does this without wasting a thing and I only wish this were longer, but we have extras that expand on all issues in many interviews and other footage.  That makes Objectified one of the most interesting documentaries of the past year and one worth gong out of your way for.

 

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image is not bad, well-edited and shot, but it is also a little softer throughout than I would have liked.  Still, color is good and you get some nice shots throughout.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is better than the Dolby 2.0 Stereo also included, but not by too much and it is a shame there is not lossless codec here.  The only extra is a set of additional interviews cut from the final work, all worth seeing after you see the main feature.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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