Normally at Pixologie, we organize photos and save memories. But when a movie like Kodachrome comes out that centers around photos, I think we can be movie reviewers too!
Overall Grade: A- (because of the foul language and adult situations)
Rated: MA, unfortunately – think of this movie like an R rated Hallmark movie! I had to kick my 11 year old out! : )
Kodachrome, available only on Netflix, tells the story of a dying man’s last wish for his son to drive him from New York to Kansas. He wants to have his last rolls of Kodachrome film developed. It’s especially meaningful because this Kansas location is the last remaining lab to process the film. It will be closing in a matter of days.
Ben Ryder, an internationally famous photographer, faces terminal cancer and hasn’t spoken for many years with his son, Matt. Because Ben was never there for Matt and Matt’s mother, it seems unlikely this road trip is going to happen. Matt eventually agrees to drive his dad and it is an emotional journey throughout the movie.
At one point, Ben reflects, “People are taking more pictures than ever before, billions of them. But there’s no slides, no prints, just data, electronic dust. Years from now, when they dig us up, there won’t be any pictures to find. No record of who we were, how we lived.”
This story is based on the true situation back when Kodak ended the production of Kodachrome film. For photography buffs, Dwayne’s Photo was the last processor of Kodachrome film in the world. In December 2010, Dwayne’s closed their business amid a great amount of stress for people rushing to get their last rolls developed. This movie somewhat captures what that must have been like for people traveling from around the world to get in before it closed.
Click here to read the NY Times article about the closing of Dwayne’s.
We have seen a revolution in how people take pictures over the past forty years, from slides to prints to digital images. As people print less and less, we see a need to tell people the importance of saving their photos even more today than in years past.
At the end of Kodachrome, Ben states: “Frightened by time the way it moves on, things disappear, but that’s why we’re photographers. We’re preservationists . . . by nature. Take pictures to stop time, commit moments to eternity, human nature made tangible. That’s as good a definition of art as any isn’t it?”
Brace yourself for this movie. . . it’s crudeness may shock you but it’s message will stay with you. And, grab a Kleenix box, too!