DOC NYC 2021: OBJECTS is a story about the things we carry
Directed by Vincent Liota
Runtime: 63 minutes
Playing at DOC NYC in person and online
by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer
Is it something or nothing? Do things matter? This is the question at the heart of Objects, Vincent Liota’s not uninteresting documentary, screening at DOC NYC.
Liota profiles three “collectors,” and recounts stories about some very particular and personal possessions—objects, not unlike Citizen Kane’s Rosebud, or Proust’s madeleine, that have deep(er) meaning for the owner. But, as Objects suggests, is that value just sentimental, or is there utility to holding onto a memory, or a moment in time? The answer, it seems depends on the person.
Rick Rawlins has kept a sugar egg he received as a child for more than 40 years. As he tells the story behind it (clumsily shown in recreations), a meaning emerges. Rawlins’ attachment to the object is important—to him; it provides proof of something from his past. But unless his story touches someone else’s emotions, the sugar egg does not feel particularly special. In fact, the story behind the wooden box the egg is kept in—which is also recounted in Objects—may be more satisfying. And when the prized sugar egg goes on a journey, thanks to a Radio Lab segment, the story of the object gets magnified. Does its intrinsic value grow as well? Viewers can decide for themselves.
The subjects in Objects are not hoarders, but author Heidi Julavits does show obsessive tendencies. She saves every ticket stub and collects the clothing and personal effects of French actress Isabelle Corey on eBay. She rejects Marie Kondo’s ideas about letting go and moving on because most of her objects do spark joy (even if not immediately). The film doesn’t get into the financial details of Julavits’ passion, which might be of interest. Instead it focuses on her creating a narrative for Corey’s life and stuff, which overlaps with everything from her efforts to recover an article of clothing she lost to making plans with what to do with her personal effects after she passes.
Liota’s doc does prompt viewers to consider what their most prized possessions are and why, and in that respect, the film has merit. A few vignettes featuring everyday folks talking about a tchotchke they grew up with that represented success, or remind them of family, is sweet. However, a sequence in Objects about the Significant Object Project—where two guys purchased crap at a second-hand shop for a few dollars and asked writers to pen stories about the objects, which were later sold online for a hundred dollar or more—feels disingenuous, despite the point being made. Did the buyers think they were purchasing Colson Whitehead’s actual trinket or not is frustratingly unclear.
The last subject featured in the film, Robert Krulwich, (one of the Radio Lab hosts) has objects of value to him all hidden around his house. He saved a clump of grass from a romantic encounter in Central Park when he was 15. He has the hospital bracelet from his daughter’s birth stashed away in a shelved copy of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. He can’t possibly part with these things, but his wife is unimpressed, even dismissive of his “hobby.”
And after watching Liota’s uneven doc, it is an attitude that viewers may possibly share. Like the objects shared in Objects, this film is guaranteed to charm or annoy viewers.