Obit

Name: Obit
Genre: Documentary
Released: April 26, 2017
Duration: 93 min
Rating: 72

2017

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Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Kino Lorber | Release Date: April 26, 2017 | Not Rated

Summary: It's a shame no one wants to talk to them at parties, because obituary writers are a surprisingly funny bunch. Ten hours before newspapers hit neighborhood doorsteps—and these days, ten minutes before news hits the web—an obit writer is racing against deadline to sum up a long and newsworthy life in under 1000 words. The details of theseIt's a shame no one wants to talk to them at parties, because obituary writers are a surprisingly funny bunch. Ten hours before newspapers hit neighborhood doorsteps—and these days, ten minutes before news hits the web—an obit writer is racing against deadline to sum up a long and newsworthy life in under 1000 words. The details of these lives are then deposited into the cultural memory amid the daily beat of war, politics, and football scores. Obit. is the first documentary to explore the world of these writers and their subjects, focusing on the legendary team at The New York Times, who approach their daily work with journalistic rigor and narrative flair. Going beyond the byline and into the minds of those chronicling life after death on the freshly inked front lines of history, the film invites some of the most essential questions we ask ourselves about life, memory, and the inevitable passage of time. What do we choose to remember? What never dies? [Kino Lorber]… Expand

Director: Vanessa Gould

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 93 min

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Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper

May 18, 2017

You might think a documentary about the obituary writers at the New York Times would be a depressing, sobering, scholarly work — but it’s anything but. Read full review

Jane Horwitz

May 11, 2017

It is fascinating to watch the writers in “Obit” strive to do right by their subjects, warts and all. Read full review

Ty Burr

May 17, 2017

Vanessa Gould’s charming and soulful documentary Obit should convince the doubters and cheer those who already know. As someone who takes great pleasure in both reading and writing valedictions to the recently deceased, I can personally attest that the movie’s dead on. Read full review

The Film Stage Jose Solís

Apr 26, 2017

It’s easy to forgive it for its shortcomings, for rarely does the idea of death elicit the warmth and utter charm as it does in this documentary. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Godfrey Cheshire

Apr 26, 2017

The fascinations of Obit, Vanessa Gould’s slick but entertaining documentary about the New York Times obituary department, operate on two levels. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Apr 26, 2017

Gould creates a fascinating portrait of the work and the patient, harried and detail-oriented folks who do it. Read full review

Clayton Dillard

Apr 23, 2017

The film ascribes to a conventionally contrapuntal take on the lives of those who spend all day surrounded by death. Read full review

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Lyn

Nov 28, 2017

As "dead tree journalism" fades, it's interesting to think of how many people used to say, "I only keep subscribing to the paper because of the obits." Of course, that's only till they learn how to read them online for free. Still, almost everyone is a sucker for a well-written obituary, andAs "dead tree journalism" fades, it's interesting to think of how many people used to say, "I only keep subscribing to the paper because of the obits." Of course, that's only till they learn how to read them online for free. Still, almost everyone is a sucker for a well-written obituary, and this documentary is a pretty good account of how one is produced at a major paper that really cares about them. Amid the sometimes amusing anecdotes from these writers who deal with death on deadline, it's good to see how seriously they take the job of summing up a person's life. We'll miss them as the process devolves to just listing various celebrities' "memorials" to the departed on Twitter.… Expand

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JLuis_001

Mar 15, 2018

A documentary about the obituary writers of the New York Times. What at first might seem like an unattractive subject becomes a rather entertaining work that puts a modest emphasis on a quite fascinating and rarely recognized world.

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