Click here for showtimes for "Obselidia"
"Obselidia" is a curious film, one that's hard to pigeonhole.
It centers on a man named George (Michael Piccirilli), who fancies himself the last door-to-door encyclopedia salesman in the age of the Internet, computers and cell phones.
He is also writing his own encyclopedia, an archive of the obsolete relics of a much slower time; he still uses things like typewriters and VHS tapes, rides a bicycle and refuses to drive, and transcribes interviews he conducts with people on these items from his 80s-era camcorder onto paper with his typewriter.
His life philosophy, to a fault, is why throw something out something perfectly good just because something newer and shinier comes to supersede it?
Then he meets Sophie (Gaynor Howe), a lovely cinema projectionist who finds herself fascinated by George's obsession with what most people would consider useless items.
George has been wanting to meet a man of similar tastes out in Death Valley, but without a car he can't. When Sophie volunteers to take him, they embark on a journey of mutual self-discovery and begin to develop feelings for each other.
"Obselidia" is a leisurely kind of film, and there's not a lot of real action or sweeping shots, but it's filmed quite well and is wonderfully character-driven.
Some of the conversations are a bit cliched (especially George's lack of belief in love), but they're handled in a mature way with adult discussions, and the journey is well-paced and not rushed to conclusion or obtusely set up.
Certainly don't go looking for an effects extravaganza or a gripping melodrama, but for lively, engaging adult conversation you won't go wrong exploring an older, slower version of life.