Helvetica Film: It’s No ‘Miss Doubtfire’
Helvetica is a documentary that came into limited theater release in 2007 and is now widely available for rental or purchase through all the usual channels. The films’ website does a better job than I could at unpacking the film:
Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which recently celebrated its 50th birthday) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.
Gary Hustwit, the films director, had me from the opening shots of a salty, swiss printer at work in his letterpress shop. While the film is well crafted, complete with funny font-in-use shots spliced throughout, what really held my interest was the passion expressed during the interviews of the various designers that their work was actually affecting the world; the stakes in their work came across in a way not often expressed or seen in the ‘fine art’ world.
Full Disclaimer, I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that the person I was watching Helvetica with did fall asleep. While not for everyone, anyone who hasn’t seen it but has an expressed interest in design, typography or visual culture I would highly recommend it.
Ditto re: the passion. I finally rented helvetica last night and have to say that it was red hot. Yes, it is kind of slow but the commitment of these typophiles to a font is strangely mesmerizing. It takes on a really grand scope…
Awesome worth a watch but long winded !!