I’ve been really looking forward to this film ever since it was announced. Hustwit doesn’t make bad documentaries, but some are better than others. This one on first watch falls somewhere in the middle. Rams is an interesting character. If the film were purely about his work, it would be amazing I’m sure, but this goes beyond that, to the man and his philosophy. Rams is fascinated with form and function, obsessively so. Opinionated and inquisitive he does come across as a difficult character. He’s proud and determined, maybe that’s what it takes to achieve the things he has, but it makes him a little difficult to warm to as everyone appears to simply bow to his ideas. That said, he does show some humility. A desire to be hands on and create products that improve people’s lives. The word better is a constant here. Less is better. Good design is as little design as possible and his influence is clear. The clean approach by Ive at Apple an obvious one. His work at Braun is near flawless and he quite rightly will be remembered as one of the most important product designers of his generation. Towards the end he talks about fear. Politicians stoking it, their inability to elevate it, but states that designers can bring calm. Design offers freedom... make of that what you will, but I’m on board... oh and Eno’s score is beautiful!
7/10
