Objectified (2009)

76% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
73% of users liked it
(885 ratings)

Nearly everyone spends their life surrounded by the work of industrial designers, but very few people understand the process by which your furniture, cell phone, or alarm clock came to look and feel the way they do, and how the elements of design interact with our own ideas and assumptions about… More Nearly everyone spends their life surrounded by the work of industrial designers, but very few people understand the process by which your furniture, cell phone, or alarm clock came to look and feel the way they do, and how the elements of design interact with our own ideas and assumptions about value and functionality. The design of everyday objects has more than a little to do with mass psychology and the way it intersects with commerce, even if most people never give the process a moment's thought. Filmmaker Gary Hustwit takes viewers on a journey through the elusive world of industrial design and the interaction of people with the objects they've brought into their lives in the documentary Objectified, which features interviews with a number of major designers who discuss how products move from the drawing board to the marketplace, and the philosophy behind the look, feel, and function of the things in your home. Objectified received its world premiere at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 16 min.
Directed By: Gary Hustwit
Genres: Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Special Interest

In Theaters: Mar 14, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Oct 13, 2009
Studio: Plexifilm

Critic Reviews

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
It gets you thinking.
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
Objectified is so straightforward, sensible and thought-provoking that it alleviates that design noise instead of adding to it.
Ronnie Scheib, Variety
Witty, engaging and exquisitely crafted.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
As sleek and handsome as any of the new and improved household items it exhibits.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
You'll never look at your next toothbrush (or your next any product) in quite the same way after watching this astute, elegant inquiry into the purpose and process of industrial  design, Objectified.
Aaron Hillis, Village Voice
A slickly entertaining and thorough enough curiosity about the form, function, context, inspiration, and evolution of industrial design.
Derek Adams, Time Out
That's what's great about his approach: he focuses on the most mundane of subjects and makes us think about them.
Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK]
This is real hothouse stuff, and Hustwit does a nice job elucidating it.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
Has sporadically intriguing moments and stylish editing, but its lack of insight, elaborations and synthesis makes it seem deficient in both form and function as a documentary.
Matthew Nestel, Boxoffice Magazine
This is an offering for those that can spot the beauty in objects from beamers to toilet bowl plungers.
Bill Weber, Slant Magazine
moothly compelling with its sleek, mass-produced shapes and beautiful minds that fetishize ergonomics and the ideal of perfectability.
Keith Phipps, AV Club
It provides just enough information to invite further study without going into much detail. It's an intriguing film about what goes on beneath the surface of the objects we take for granted, but one that never digs as deep as it should.
Maria Garcia, Film Journal International
Compilation of filmed interviews with industrial designers who talk about the philosophy of design, rather than the objects they designed.
Ben Walters, Time Out New York
For all its intriguing observations, the documentary struggles to develop a strong argument about its subject, or to demonstrate the hidden cultural power of design in such a way as to make the subject compelling to those without a prior interest.
Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve
A documentary that could have been more involving to people outside design careers if director Hustwit edited out some of the long, tedious monologues in favor of showing more products with exciting designs.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

"Objectified" is a mildly interesting documentary about design that sadly has more to do with symbolically and futilely trying to reinvent the wheel but little to do with building a better mousetrap. Actually, towards the beginning there is some focus on crafting household… More
"Objectified" is a mildly interesting documentary about design that sadly has more to do with symbolically and futilely trying to reinvent the wheel but little to do with building a better mousetrap. Actually, towards the beginning there is some focus on crafting household items, like potato peelers, that are easier for people suffering with arthritis to handle. But most of the documentary concerns the outward designs of objects to make them more palatable for consumers. While much attention is paid to the coolness of the designs, the concept of planned obsolescence is pretty much ignored. And I know creating new designs can be used to fight against an increasingly disposable world but some items were simply meant to be used and thrown away. For the record, there is one item I would run inside a fire to get and that is my DVR which is an entirely practical choice.(Sue me, I'm not sentimental.) And is a $100 pen any better than the cheap pen I used to write up this review in my one subject spiral notebook? Admittedly, we do need some variety in life, or else we're going to be on page 80 of "Brave New World." And with Smart Cars, especially the yellow ones, you have the perfect combination of efficiency, function and a funky look, to offset the ugly, gas guzzling SVU's.
Jeff T

Like a very well-produced Nova special, or a Discovery channel in-depth program, this documentary about industrial design is interesting and chatty and slightly dry. Some interesting stuff, not dull, but I like my documentaries a little more . . . grabby.
Bill C

Darn, you already pushed the thumbs down icon and you haven?t read the review. This move is really focused for people in to the design of anything material. Having people verbalize about the creative process is like asking writers to paint about writing. The real interest is in the… More
Darn, you already pushed the thumbs down icon and you haven?t read the review. This move is really focused for people in to the design of anything material. Having people verbalize about the creative process is like asking writers to paint about writing. The real interest is in the subtext, the people who are interviewed are obsessed with design, as I can say I am also. The though kept sneaking into my mind that none of the people interviewed have children except Marc Newsom. In the extra he explains he has a 9 mo old daughter and goes on a rant about the state of design of highchairs and other children?s goods. You can see the sleep deprivation in his eyes. There is a deep inner connection between creative drive and raising children. The most brief and most enjoyable interview is with Dieter Rams head of industrial design for Braun. Definitely catch the extended interview in the extras (yes they?re there you can only get there through the pop-up menu button). Naoto Fukasawa give some in site into Japanese asthetic in a rambling train of thought exposition. The opposite is Poala Antonelli who gives this boring academic long winded history of design, she has to be a uncreative barren and bitter designer.

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Objectified (2009)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

Jeff T

Bill C

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