User reviews

This rather fascinating documentary, directed by Vanessa Gould, shows us the inner workings of the obituary department of the New York Times. One might expect this film to be somewhat grim but it proves to be anything but, with even some deadpan (pun intended) humor well placed into the movie.

Ar first, I thought the writers and editors of the department came across as flippant, considering the subject matter of a person's death. However, it became apparent that they have a job to do and are trying to do it in the best way possible, spinning an accurate and interesting narrative for their readers, while trying to sum up someone's life in just so many words, while also under time pressures to meet a print deadline.

There's also lots of wonderful archival film and photos of people and events over the decades, as well as screen shots of various New York Times obits over the years. I thought the doc really gave me a good insight into how the writers of the obits chose those persons that would go into their columns and how the pieces are cobbled together, eventually with a finished product emerging.

"Obit" (2016 release; 93 min.) is a documentary about the team of 4 or 5 obituary writers at the New York Times. As the movie opens, we see Bruce Weber, the NYT obit reporter, in discussion with the widow of someone who was a name in politics decades ago. We get to know the rest of the NYT obit team, and how they go about selecting whom to write up for tomorrow's print edition. At this point we're not even 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the feature length documentary debut from director Vanessa Gould. Here she gets close access to how the team of NYT obit writers go about their business every day. Comments one: "Obits have next to nothing to do with death, and everything with life", and in that sense of course obits are a celebration, but still you are dealing with life that has come to an end. Gould makes sure to cover all the bases of obit writing, including how to fact check and how to evaluate potential write-ups ("a virtuous life doesn't mean it's newsworthy", comments another). If there is something missing in the movie, it's that there is zero tension, or even anything truly unexpected. Yes, it's fun to see how certain obscure figures (such as the guy who was the first ever to be a TV adviser in a presidential campaign--that would be the defining TV debate in 1960 between Nixon and Kennedy) get their moment in the light--albeit post-mortem). I also couldn't help but wonder, given how the newspaper industry is going, whether one day someone will be writing an obit about the NYT obit department...

I recently saw "Obit" at the Landmark E Street Cinema in Washington DC. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was packed to the rafters, as in: SOLD OUT to the very last seat, much to my surprise. Who knew there would be such an interest in this topic? I found the documentary mildly amusing but I have seen much more compelling documents recently (such as "God Knows Where I Am"). On the other hand, if you have a particular interest in obits, then by all means, this movie is for you and you should check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.

"Maybe a sentence or two will be about the death." Obituarist

Dying is no fun, but the obit writers at the New York Times make the most of it. They treat the assignment as a celebration of life, a real life, a history of people who made differences in the lives of others. Additionally, more than the responsibility of finding out the facts of a life is getting the facts correct.

Obit is a surprisingly upbeat documentary about a decidedly downbeat subject. The reporters are animated about the celebration and the discoveries they uncover in their journalistic pursuit. Most of them were accomplished journalists who are chosen because that part of the paper has grown from a pasture for declining reporters to a field of artistic possibilities energized by the lives the reporters chronicle.

Much of the time they are going on gut feeling. When they reported on John Fairfax, the first to cross an ocean in a rowboat, they hit a goldmine because his life outside the rowboat was even more interesting.

In one of the most prominent obits, the somewhat discursive doc features the death of William Wilson, one of the first TV consultants, who advised JFK the night in 1960 when he defeated Richard Nixon by virtue of Kennedy's telegenic superiority, helped in no small part by Wilson's choice of such details as the makeup he hurried to buy at a pharmacy.

An interesting part of such obits as Wilson's is the choice for lead paragraph or the headline or where in the paper it should go--front page or obit section--and how long in words. These decisions are not fed into an algorithm but rather are the province of writers and editors who know history and culture well enough to make the decision.

The NYT is my favorite newspaper, so good that I read the obits along with the editorials. Such a gift to me ensures that my own obit will exude the joie de vivre we both share.

Maybe it's morbid, but I do read a lot of NYT obits. But until this film, I never really thought about the construction. Or why I like that they are devoid of sentimentality.

I enjoyed hearing from the writers about how they see their role in relaying the arc of a life. Tidbits about the constraints they have, and the reasons why things are done, were very amusing. As I saw someone say elsewhere, I would watch a whole separate documentary about the guy who runs the "morgue".

An excellent peek behind the scenes at the paper of record. As well as a worthwhile poke about what your own story would look like.

It's an intriguing subject for a documentary and shows something of the cultural relevance of writing obituaries. A also appreciate the approach which shows the work in progress but also something of its pitfalls. What I don't like is the nearly permanent, unnecessary underscoring: in fact, the strongest parts are without music or - like the typewriter sequence - with a visual choreography to the music.

OBIT. (2016)

I found this documentary about the obit writers at the New York Times fascinating, uplifting, full of life, and beautifully shot down to subtle details such as the fact that Margalit Fox's georgeous tapestry scarf matches the aqua blue of the antiquish tyewriter in the left rear of her shots. The chaotic disarray of the news clip room, the morgue, managed by curator, Jeff Roth, (in cuffed short shirtsleeves and narrow tie), who has worked there since 1993, sings with bulging, sliding files of yellowed history. As a professional organizer, my instincts might otherwise have been to "have a go" at bringing array to this laudable photo and article repository, (which seems by all tokens to be long past any point of return), yet I was captivated by the messy poetry in this story, very well told by Vanessa Gould.

"It's the job nobody thinks they want, a kind of Siberia," obit writer Margalit Fox says, "but it's the best beat in journalism because you're paid to tell peoples' stories. Obituaries have next to nothing to do with death, and absolutely everything to do with life."

The unique tasks of an obit writer, as well as the delight in encapsulating and honoring someone's life, are well presented in this film. Writer William Grimes explains, "A fortunate death for me is one that occurs and you hear about it at 9:00 a.m. and you have all day to put something together. The unfortunate death for me is the one that occurs and you hear about it when you're getting ready to leave... You walk out the door, and an editor comes over to you and says, 'Not so fast.'"

Among many riveting through-lines in the film was Bruce Weber's coverage of the death of William P. Wilson, the man who insisted on a single pole podium and applied Kennedy's light makeup before the Nixon Kennedy debate. Just days after the election, Kennedy himself acknowledged, "It was the TV more than anything else that turned the tide." The film offers up minute aspects of how Weber wrote this story, while also weaving in historic information of many other notable lives in order to illustrate how this obit team works to do justice to them at their time of death.

The obit mistake and the pre-written obits are discussed with flourish and wit, but retain humanity and reverence to life. Even the cubicles in each interview served, to me, (someone who has never worked in such a workspace), as a character in the film as the lilting music by composer Joel Goodman punctuated each Annie Hall-esque narrative observation. The NYT's obit crew are wry, grounded, quick-on-the uptake, talented journalists, the perfect team, compelling and compelled, to get this job done. Director of photography, Ben Wolf, did a spectacular job including a dazzling array of newsreels and vintage photo clips.

This film is unsentimental, yet moving; weighty, but inspiriting. I give it ten stars and highly recommend this movie. If you hate it, don't kill me.

The journalism in the New York Times is phenomenal, best in the United States, and tied with The Economist for best among English language news sources overall. And -- in my experience -- the further back you go into the New York Times, the better the journalism is.

Obit takes you way back, into the obituary pages of the New York Times. A front page obituary is rare, but in all cases there is a detailed process for selecting who will get an obituary, what will be said about them, and how it will be said. And there are valuable lessons to be learned in an obit. As one of the obit writers says, an obituary says very little about a person's death. It's mostly a celebration of their life.

There's also a lot to be learned about the care that Times reporters put into their work. The guy who runs the storage room full of old photographs and obit material casually told a lot of great stories about some of the old obits he's seen.

I'd happily watch a documentary about the Times business, sports, or entertainment sections. Or just about any section. But the obits seem like a great place to start.