Helvetica

Fonts can be a mundane thing. Most people don't think twice about what font they're using.

The font used most is Helvetica. It is the standard for everything typed on a computer, and the standard font on your system's settings.

Helvetica, a lovely documentary by Gary Hustwit, explores the font Helvetica from social, historical, and design standpoints.

Now I know, "A film about a font? For reals?" It's hard to process any subject matter that could potentially be duller. Yet my fellow audience members and I were enraptured by this film.

They interviewed personalities were typesetters, graphic designers, historians- designers from every era, and each had a passionate stance on Helvetica. The modernists, who are staunchly pro-Helvetica because of its "neutrality", were met with postmodern typesetters/designers (like the wonderfully quirky Erik Spiekermann.) The likes of which saw Helvetica as the so called "McDonalds of fonts. It's crap, but you use it because it's there."

Yet the enthusiastic opinions on the world’s most popular sans serif font are not the only things that make this movie captivating. The cinematography is stunning. It is as beautiful to watch as Across the Universe, the vintage Eames/Henry Miller commercials, or Drum Line. As a photographer, there are stills and shots in this film that make my heart go a pitter-patter. There was a particular shot of a New York City subway sign that was one of the most beautifully composed shots I have ever seen. I spent much of my time during the film wishing that I had taken the shots.

So already the audience is met with compelling characters, and amazing film making. Yet, Helvetica continued to get better. The soundtrack was absolutely flawless. Featuring the likes of indie darlings The Sea and Cake, Four Tet, and The Album Leaf- their laid back instrumental works make the film that much more interesting, with audiences only noticing the soundtrack when they need to, and the soundtrack doing a wonderful job of conveying the needed mood for the film.

One of my professors (who, while not exactly square, is certainly not Mr. Hip-and-with-it) declared his love for The Sea and Cake, after seeing the film. Now, I give mad props to any film that can make a person like Ted Morgan try out something new (it also made me appreciate this art school just a bit more that I did before).

Of course, I would like you to be somewhat wary of this review. I am a bit of sucker for documentaries. One of my favorite films is a documentary called WordPlay about crossword puzzles, and an annual crossword competition.

However, I strongly recommend that everyone see this movie.



http://www.helveticafilm.com/