Had heard of the film few years ago and finally got my DVD from Amazon today and watched the film. Loved the film. Highly recommended. Kudos to team and thank you for making the film. It is an originally well written, executed film. I don't want to give away anything about the film because I think that may spoil your viewing, and I'm not a very good reviewer to be honest. If I like the film, I say it. If I don't like the film, I say it. This is one of those rare gems that people would've hardly heard of. This movie pretty much speaks about life, death, existentialism, and the meaning of certain things in our purpose of living. And it being a love story, makes it further interesting.

'Obselidia', created by first time director/writer Diane Bell, apparently went over very well at the Sundance Festival. It's one of those quirky indies which will probably appeal to mostly young people who can identify with the offbeat protagonist played by Michael Piccirilli. Piccirilli, an Australian, is almost 40 years old but his character, George Sanders, feels like he's much younger. George is writing an encyclopedia of obsolete items; he works as a librarian and types his manuscript on an old fashioned typewriter. He films video on an old video camera and enjoys watching slides on an old fashioned slide projector (the slides are interspersed throughout the film and can be seen during the opening and closing credits). Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of the film is trying to identify all the items George has collected in his apartment.Obselidia's plot is rather thin. George meets Sophie, a projectionist at movie theater which only plays silent films. Sophie is also a quirky, free spirit and agrees to drive out to Death Valley to meet George's hero, Lewis, a novelist who believes that the human race will probably become extinct in about 100 years due to some kind of looming environmental disaster. When Sophie finds out George is unable to drive, she orders him to get behind the wheel and orders him to drive despite the fact that he has no license. The odd couple finally meet up with Lewis but Sophie finds him to be pretentious. George and Sophie sleep outside in a pup tent but the relationship between them is strictly platonic (except maybe for one chaste kiss).After saying goodbye to Lewis, George and Sophie drive for two hours and discover a curator of a ghost town off a dirt road. When Sophie realizes she forgot her camera, they drive back to Lewis but find him dead. George stays with the body (out of "respect") while Sophie goes for help (but we never see the police arrive or the body taken away). Finally, back home in California, George musters the courage to knock on Sophie's door, only to find that she has boyfriend.The experience in the desert is supposed to have a great impact on George but he doesn't show it. At the end of the film, he's back at the library and says nothing to a woman who had invited him to a party prior to his sojourn in the desert. Not only does 'Obselidia' lack a central antagonist, but George's repudiation of his "love is obsolete" comment at the beginning of the film, is not borne out by any concrete actions in the real world. George is just as cut off from interpersonal relationships as when we first meet him.A character who's obsessed with obsolescence might seem like a clever idea for a movie. The objects of his 'desire' certainly provide grist for the curious cinematographer. But ultimately, George's journey is unsatisfying precisely because the story has little conflict between its characters and offers no significant growth for its offbeat protagonist.

I agree 100% with Todd Mcarthy's review in the Sundance edition of Variety dated 8-14th February 2010. It's now June and this is still the film of the year for me . This movie is eccentric, gentle , intelligent and gorgeously made . It steps outside the box of what is expected from a modern independent film and harks back to the classic European film tradition . The world needs more films like this . Gaynor Howe's performance was outstanding for me and I particularly enjoyed the fact that such a big subject could be tackled within the constraints of a small independent movie . Full credit to the Sundance judges . It's not a fast burn , but it drew me in from the first minute . Bravo to all concerned .

It's really too bad. This movie starts out great--a really quirky lead, an interesting foil as the (almost) romantic interest, and a really odd plot. And it's fine, right up to the point where it changes from a pretty good romantic comedy into an overly preachy climate change documentary wanna-be. The level of fatalism from that point on is totally excessive, and leads to major problems in consistency (e.g., the attitude of the hermit-like author to his son). And I'm about as far left as one gets on climate change; this preaching with Morse code using atomic detonations for the dots and dashes was really unneeded and fundamentally fatal to what could have been a solid film, and one with a strong eco-message.