California Typewriter

California Typewriter is a 2016 American documentary film inspired by the uniqueness and charm of an inanimate object that has been deemed obsolete in the digital age: the typewriter. Released by American Buffalo Pictures and directed by Doug Nichol, the film, named after a family-owned typewriter repair shop in Berkeley, California, portrays a series of engaging narratives that reveal the profound impact this analog machine has had on countless individuals. The film crisscrosses between research, history, and touching human stories that pay tribute to the typewriter as a distinctive piece of technology.

The documentary features a star-studded lineup with enthusiasts, collectors, and passionate users of typewriters, including renowned actor Tom Hanks. In the film, Hanks conveys his love for these devices and further amplifies the importance and value of the typewriter in his personal and professional life. Hanks is just one among many who share a genuine passion for typewriters, underpinning the film’s central theme of paying homage to these fascinating machines.

In an age dominated by digital technologies, the film delves into the unique love and nostalgia people still nurture for typewriters and the tactile experience they provide. Injecting vivid, heartfelt stories into the film, Nichol showcases journeyman repairmen in the California Typewriter store who meticulously tend to each typewriter ensuring that the machines can live on and continue to create. These stories are not just about being romantic and nostalgic, but about continuance and emotional resilience.

Among other notable figures contributing to the documentary are well-known musicians and artists like Wilco's John Stirratt, writer and typewriter repairer Richard Polt, painter Sam Shepard, and poet Silvi Alcivar. The film unravels their connection to the typewriter, touching on concern that digitization could be dumbing down human relationships with our tools.

One of the movie's inspiring sequences is the journey of artist Jeremy Mayer who repurposes discarded typewriter parts into stunning humanlike sculptures. He disassembles the machines, keeping every nut, bolt, and key to create award-winning artwork. In his own words, he kills typewriters to make them immortal. This captures the film's underlying tone of protecting the legacy of the typewriter, even as it faces its demise.

Throughout the film, Nichol presents viewers with the question of what the digital age is pushing aside and what it can never replace. It encourages the viewer to reflect on the balance between the older 'analog' world of tangible objects and the increasingly digitized modern landscape. It takes viewers on a journey back to an era when things were made to last, unlike today's expensive yet disposable tech gadgets.

Nichol's California Typewriter serves as a celebration of the satisfaction derived from working with one's hands and the joy of owning and creating something tangible. It echoes a challenge to the digital world's perceived disposability and transiency, valuing craftsmanship, durability, and the connection between human and machine.

Moreover, the film's extensive historical perspective on the rise and fall of the typewriter is portrayed through Ken Alexander. It traces the significant role the typewriter had on shaping modern society, and its decline in the face of rapidly growing personal computer use.

In its essence, California Typewriter is a love letter to an artifact of a bygone era juxtaposed against the backdrop of the modern digital age. It is an intimate portrait of human connection that emphasizes beauty and reverence for a machine that, despite being declared obsolete, remains deeply interwoven in the fabric of those who cherish it for its undying spirit of creativity and permanence. The film is a well-paced, beautifully shot, and uplifting celebration of the typewriter, illustrating that nostalgia for these machines of yesteryear is well and truly alive.