I feel there are few films that truly stand out in displaying the era they're from. While films these days are riddled with little political and pop culture references, they fail to captivate the general feeling of society, or perhaps the changes within that society as a result of various changes. In the 90s, this era was one of extreme technological change, and one many weren't all that prepared for. Today, we're in a speeding environment that's constantly changing the ways in which we interact with the world and others around us; we're used to the technology being a fundamental part of our lives each day.
In the 90s, this change into a more computer oriented era was both exciting and extremely dull. The rise in more common computing led to the office space, soulless cubicles in which humans are placed into alone, placed behind a computer screen and processing all types of dull information to and from paper. These spaces were dull, incredibly corporate, and a significantly large shift in a more traditional working environment featuring more social interaction and seemingly more engaging work. The same could be said about today, but again, we've now accepted this type of working environment.
Mike Judge's Office Space takes a highly comedic look at such a fragile time in which this environment was seen as dead-end, unimaginative, and corporate to the point of being driven to insanity. In the growing age of finance and computing, three young adults with a plethora of ambition feel trapped in this lifestyle and desperately want out. What is a particularly depressing setup for a film, it's full of excellent filmmaking and little quirks that portray the environment, time, and world for what it really is: hypocritical, meaningless, and fragile.
Shot on 35mm film, Judge displays this dull lifestyle with excellence, using a colour pallete that is bland, removing all individuality from the characters via their appearances, appealing to the corporate standards that work to turn people into a single entity in the office. With this, the film shines through its characters and their personalities. There's the gentle worker with no confidence, the software engineer nerd that loves rap music, and the waitress that loves martial arts films. None of these elements of their personalities are allowed to show during a working environment, and it's evident that these are intentional choices by Judge to maintain that lifestyle void of humanity, in which we're all owned by a company that chooses how we act and dress. And with this, comes the use of rap music in contrast with that dull lifestyle.
With the use of 35mm film to dull tones, the cinematography and directing style of the film focuses on displaying the office space as small, claustraphobic place with little room for movement, this is amplified with relatively static and slow camera movements that amplify that notion. Scenes outside of the office aren't too different, but focus on displaying more colour and more movement, showing a more alive world out there being ignored. I really loved the simplicity behind it, given how effective such simple choices are.
This also applies to the editing and comedic elements of the film, where music and cinematography work together to display something that's genuinely quite dull and lacking in emotion, well, with emotion and substance. A slow motion scene of the three main characters obliterating a printer in a field to vent their years of frustration at the system alongside rap music being one of the most notable examples; and so well done that it has been remembered for decades since. Judge clearly speaks from experience with these moments, knowing where to implement style over the rest of the film, it allows you to feel the growing anger and want to get up and escape from the system. It promotes the rebellious side within, and I feel Judge was really trying to get that out into people during the time.
That isn't to say that the period was depressing or the technological growth that led to it is negative; there's no negative perspectives of either throughout the film, but a clear hatred for the corporate lifestyle itself that promotes profit over people, sadly, something that is still present to this day, and still found within Judge's more modern works such as Silicon Valley. Judge as a director knows perfectly how to display the world of technology, and its clown world aesthetic that is evidently full of idiocy and luck, but there's always a slight hint of passion found within it. Office Space is exactly that.
@namiks, Agree with you, current Web Series and Movies are mostly focused on politics and conspiracy theories. Stay blessed.
Office Space is a 1999 American black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. The movie is really amazing.
This is one of my favorite films of the 90's. A lot of it rings true to anyone that has ever worked in an office environment as well. I used to and the idea of TPS reports and copiers simply refusing to work is a very real aspect of the corporate world.
Brilliant film and a great writeup.
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