I was at the imagine science festival sponsored screening of the science documentary 'Naturally Obsessed: the making of scientist.' I did a little post on it yesterday right at the caspary auditorium while waiting for the film to start, which was caught short by the starting of the film (so much for semi-gonzo journalism, eh?).
I can't post the link to the website here since I'm on the move right now (ah the wonders of smartphone culture) but you can simply type the title of the film (naturally obsessed:the making of scientist) into the google and you should be able to find it. The makers of the film also has a youtube channel with the film trailer. I highly recommend anyone with even a passing interest on life of people in research laboratories or any science in general to stop by.
I would also recommend that anyone interested in above things to go out and buy a dvd but I don't think it's out yet. If it was out I would go out and get it in a heart beat. The film is made by independent filmmaker, so you'll be supporting a good cause in both sciences and arts while getting away with one exciting film (something I can't say for most of the films out these days. What happened to works like the waking life by Richard Linklater?).
The film centers around the lab life of researchers in a certain protein crystallography laboratory at the Columbia University. The basic premise of the film might sound boring to some. That's what I thought first before I saw the film's trailer. Now, x-ray crystallography is an exciting field in its own right, I just felt as if it would be very difficult to make a compelling film out of such a premise. Boy, was I wrong. I had so much fun watching the film I completely lost myself for the duration of the film. The film concentrates on the human side of the individual characters within the lab, and there aren't that much science talks in there. It really doesn't detract from the experience of the film though. There are enough drama, humor, and intensity in those characters to make up for the lack of scientific content and then some (I'm not being too fair with my assessment here, since the absence of heaviee scientific component within the film was a conscious choice of the filmmakers themselves).
You see, contrary to what some people seem to think (for some inexplicable reason), life in science laboratory is rarely calm and uneventful (you would have to be some sort of idiot to be able to lead uneventful life in an actual research lab). Science is a venture that takes years and years of life for a single result that might or might not agree with the intent of the researcher. You can not continue that kind of lifestyle without some sort of great force of will, driven by intense human desire whether it be greed, ideal, or hunger for more knowledge. As I have written before on the post on workshops of the Renaissance era, modern science laboratories are the focal points of the most intense personalities of the era. It's the place you truly become human. And the film is successful in portraying that intensity within the people involved in such grand projects, however brief it may be.
I am in love with this particular style of films that tries to portray the pursuit of science as a noble yet unmistakably human endeavor. Looking at the film's website and the groups that lent aid to production of the film I think this may be a beginning of series of films sharing such premises (at least I hope so. It would be a real shame to stop making such wonderful things).
Maybe my admiration for the film comes from the fact that I'm a filmb junkie who works in a somewhat similar science based setting. Regardless, one thing I can say with certainty. The film 'Naturally Obsessed:the making of scientist' was one hell of a fun, and I'd love to be able to experience it again. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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