Movies where type/graphic design is a plot element.

[AndrewSipe]

I did a quick search on imdb with typographer under plot and got this response:

"Cronache di poveri amanti (1954)" : In 1925 the young florentine typographer Mario moves to via del Corno to be near his girl-friend Bianca.

[pattyfab]

"Cronache di poveri amanti" means "Chronicle of the poor lovers". Poor because they are star-crossed or poor because he can't make a living at typography?

[AndrewSipe]

Couldn't tell you, the rest of the plot goes like this: ...Here he becomes friends with Maciste, his landlord, and Ugo, anti-fascists both of them. When Campolmi is beaten by the fascists, Mario meets Milena, Campolmi's wife, at the hospital and falls in love with her leaving Bianca. Then Maciste is killed, again by the fascists, Ugo is wounded and he seeks shelter in ^ÓSignora^Ô's house. Here he falls in love with Gesuina and the two marry. Campolmi dies, but Mario and Milena part themselves. Later Mario too is arrested by the police.

No mention of how much typography this guy does, or even if he keeps doing it after moving to del Corno. The movie sounds like a political romance, like "The American President".

[typodermic]

The Science of Sleep (2006) has a gratuitous paste up scene.

[eliason]

Not a movie (and perhaps not a plot element), but...

Are any of you watching the excellent new series "Mad Men," on AMC? It's set in a 1960 ad agency in NYC. One of the episodes showed the executives bemusedly tossing back and forth the Doyle Dane Bernbach Volkswagen "Lemon" print ad.

[Lex Kominek]

Although not specifically about type or graphic design, Crazy People starring Dudley Moore comes to mind.

- Lex

[aluminum]

"Are any of you watching the excellent new series “Mad Men,” on AMC?"

I watched the pilot. I enjoyed the vibe of the era, and the cute jokes that reference the future ("there is no imaginary machine that can make perfect copies of paper reports"). But I'm not sure if they can drag an entire series along with that. Has the series remained watchable?

[david h]

> Has the series remained watchable?

Why not. This is top 10 production!

[Berg]

Pillow Book, by Peter Greenaway

[aluminum]

"Why not. This is top 10 production!"

;o)

The issue I had was that I wasn't sure there was a plot. OK, ad men. Suits. Booze. Machismo. Plot?

[Thomas Phinney]

BTW, "The Ninth Gate" is based on (about half of) the book "The Club Dumas." I recommend the book much more highly, though I quite enjoyed the film. The radically different endings between the two are an interesting discussion item for those who've experienced both.

Also, note that the all-important book everyone's dying over in "The Ninth Gate" is a thinly-fictionalized version of the actual book "Hypnerotamachia Poliphili" (erotic dreams of Poliphilus), printed by Aldus in 1499. It's a stunning book, with cool typography and imagery. Another fictional unravelling of the secrets of this same book, but under its real name, is also the inspiration for the best-selling thriller "The Rule of Four," which is also being made into a film.

Oddly, the Wikipedia pages on "The Ninth Gate" and "The Club Dumas" don't even mention the Hypnerotomachia.

Dang, must get back to work. :)

Cheers,

T

[fontplayer]

Burgess Meredith plays an expert Lin-o-type operator who turns out to be Satan.

That would explain how he eventually became the head of the company.

[Queneau]

I don't know exactly if this is what you meant, but I had to think about the movie 'pi', which is based around all kinds of spooky meanings and theories of the mathematical sign 'pi'.

cheers Queneau

[Miss Tiffany]

_Pi_ had a great soundtrack.

[ChuckGroth]

Burgess Meredith plays an expert Lin-o-type operator who turns out to be Satan.

That would explain how he eventually became the head of the company.

even Satan had to work his way up!

[fontplayer]

> even Satan had to work his way up!

And wouldn't you know his minions would be lawyers.
; )

[terryw]

Burgess?
New thread anyone?
The devil made me do it.

[dezcom]

"even Satan had to work his way up!"

He had to work his way out of the Hellbox :-)

ChrisL

[fontplayer]

He had to work his way out of the Hellbox

Wasn't Hell appropriately in Linotype's name at one time? Or did I dream that? (is that what this reference is to?)

[ChuckGroth]

fp- the hellbox is where typesetter's would toss discarded lead characters

[russellm]

I remember going to an exhibition of printing equipment way back when...

The was the Linotype booth, the Hiebleburg booth, and way, way off in the distancer was this huge sign that said "HELL"

It's now Linotype-Hell, I believe.

[dan_reynolds]

Linotype–Hell AG was in existence from c. 1989 to 1997. Linotype AG acquired Dr.-Ing. Rudolf Hell GmbH in 1989, and then changed its company name. Heidelberg acquired Linotype–Hell AG around 1997, at which point Linotype Library GmbH was formed (Heidelberg AG sold Linotype in 2006). The "Library" was dropped from Linotype's name in 2005, and the company is now known simply as Linotype GmbH.

"Hell" was a great company. Its founder (Dr.-Ing. Rudolf Hell) invented both the fax machine and the scanner. They also created the world's first digital typesetting machine, the DigiSet, in 1968 I believe. Many designers, including Hermann Zaps and Gerard Unger, worked for Hell for a time. Note that they were both freelancers or external employees, as far as I know. This is important, because of the differentiation it creates—while they may have worked for Hell, they did not work in Hell. Hell's offices, of course, were located in Kiel, a port city in Northern Germany.

Some may be sad to hear that "Hell" no longer exists ;-)

[fontplayer]

Some may be sad to hear that “Hell” no longer exists ;-)

LOL. It does appear to be a kinder and friendlier company these days.

[nicholasgross]

I'm sorry but IMHO the Ninth Gate is awful and rates among my worst films of all time; there was no ending and at times I felt like I was watching a Range rover ad. I couldn't believe Roman Polanski and Johnny Depp had produced this. Sorry if I missed something.

[Si_Daniels]

> Hell’s offices, of course, were located in Kiel, a port city in Northern Germany.

Is it true that a few winters back Hell froze over? I think it was a few months before Monotype purchased Linotype? ;-)