🎬 #102 The Drama Of Building The Future.
🎬 #102 The Drama Of Building The Future.
There has been a sub-genre forming in cinema over the last 30 or 40 years - I’m going to call it Tech Drama. I remember seeing Pirates of Silicon Valley in 1999, that’s probably the earliest version of this type of film I can think of seeing. It charted the rise of Apple and Microsoft and their various collisions - Noah Wyle in particular made an excellent Steve Jobs. But these types of film have seemed to explode in the years since. Purely because we have these huge companies with huge stakes being formed - that are inherently fascinating backdrops to play out themes as old as time - greed, unrelenting ambition, risking everything for something you believe in. I can’t get enough of these kinds of stories - modern myths that usually result in technologies that fundamentally change how we live our lives.
I’m going all in on just one recommendation this week.
Happy viewing
Bry
BLACKBERRY
2023 Dir Matt Johnson
[2hrs]
Matt Johnson’s film tackles the formation and domination of Blackberry in the early smartphone market. You might hear the title and think ‘what, they made a film about that meme stock, who used to make phones before the epoch changing iPhone, that sounds terrible.’ But I urge you to check it out - critically appraised but largely under seen, this portrait of the creation of Blackberry engages, entertains and leaves you feeling sorry for the company in a strangely compelling way.
Jay Baruchel’s performance of the co-founder Mike is particularly delicate. While Glenn Howerton as incoming CEO rightfully got a lot of attention for his fiery intensity, as the man who wrangled the company from tiny office to global domination.
There’s a lot of passion on screen, not just from the performances but from those behind the camera. The feel of the filmmaking mirrors the story they’re telling - a talented rag tag group come together to make something important to them and release it out into the world.
TL;DR The story of the founding of Blackberry is significantly more enduring than the device itself.
*Available for a small rental fee on Amazon, Apple, Google and YouTube in the US and in the UK.
Fact: The director Matt Johnson plays Doug, one of the co-founders of Blackberry.