The main idea of this film is that you can get pleasure from life with a smaller set of things, for which you do not need to get into loans or take loans, and then spend your whole life paying interest and stuffing the pockets of the market fatheads. The idea of the authors is quite clear and logical, since lately we are quite often agitated for the purchase of cars, as well as phones, laptops, clothes or household chemicals of a new generation, and all for the sake of people constantly finding themselves in shopping centers, squandering blood money.
The vicious circle of things closes at the moment when the layman no longer thinks of life without going to a boutique or some department of technology, where he will make pompous advertising and a demonstration of a gadget that must necessarily replace the old one, because the view is no longer the same, and the functions are outdated, although it still works, the old pretzel, but it is time for him to be dumped. And so in all areas of our life, wherever we go and whatever we choose. The new religion has long left the temples, settling in shops, market stalls and other places where you are ready to sell at least your mother, if only she was paid.
The temptation is so great that many citizens are led to the brisk shouts of fairs barking, after the oil assurances of which the next poor guy takes a car exorbitantly expensive, getting into a loan for an apartment, for example, for twenty or even thirty years. Yes, slavery is now on a very different level; here we are given an imaginary sense of choice, when everything is decided for us. We are like the same cogs in the system, regularly performing their tasks, which are thrown out immediately after their breakdown. The mania of consumption drives us over time into such rat races, where in the pursuit of money and receiving untried emotions, a person is ready to bury himself with his own hands.
Minimalism can help counter aggressive trade policies that diligently seek unsophisticated victims whose mission is to strengthen the vast foundation of global capital that uses people as things. Not all of us do this trick, but how many poor people have drowned in permanent loans, loans, microcredits and debts because they did not appreciate their capabilities in time? You can't - don't take it, don't stick your head in the noose, come to your senses! And yet we are magnetically drawn to the neon of signs, the gloss of windows and the deceptive light of spotlights inside the newest department store temples.
It is not that the rejection of mass consumption can radically change the situation in the world, but it can save someone’s life or fate from wasted money, nerves, effort and time, because most goods clutter our homes and apartments, appearing in fact only a temporary toy, and sometimes a stupid fake, which skillfully devoured our funds in the moment of wanting to possess it. Of course, one might think that this may not affect us personally, but all this is only an illusion of freedom, for the chains of society are constantly strangling everyone who comes close to it. It seems to have been written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
We are forced things, the value of which is sometimes reduced to complete zero, but on stands and hangers they seem status, fashionable, fresh and new, which often replaces concepts. This does not mean that you need to walk in rags or try to repair trash to the point of victory, but it is important to have a head on your shoulders and think soberly so as not to throw pearls before pigs, because often they do not deserve it. Minimalism has the right to become a way of life where every thing or part of the wardrobe is consumed reasonably, with benefit for the business, when we take the goods consciously, and not under the influence of harsh advertising or at the urging of banks, shops and others.
Of course, this is not a panacea, but we can at least try to live differently, boldly and soberly looking at what surrounds us. This movie encourages us to take care of ourselves, first of all, and then look at everyday worries from a different point of view. To hell with such a life, if behind the constant trade fraud, rabid cheats and huge interest, because it happens that the life of a exhausted and naked debtor is not exactly happy. Things should not dominate us because they are meant to serve man, not the other way around. It is not necessary to sacrifice everything for them to appear more successful or richer, since all these concepts are very conditional and subjective.
The authors of the above picture are trying to offer something different, not like the established pace of the universe, when in the pursuit of success or novelty of feelings we make thoughtless purchases that clutter our corners, drawers, garages, gardens and cottages. Being Plyushkin is not too right, because then a person loses peace and thirst to live, finding himself around a mass of rubble of different clothes or electronics bought by obsession, standing somewhere in the closet, already buried under a layer of dust and oblivion. Naturally, with minimalism, one should not frantically reject the benefits of civilization, because this can lead to fierce asceticism.
Without fanaticism, weighing all the pros and cons, watch yourself and make purchases competently. Before you spend your money, stop and think about whether you need another pair of shoes or a dress that you use once a month. Come home, clean up all the trash and breathe fully, freed from the yoke of accumulated garbage, depriving you of space and time. If suddenly for some reason you do not have enough confidence, then watch this movie, where people are trying to live not by the usual norms, but in their own way, and, perhaps, then you will understand that you can really live well and happily, and also without unnecessary expenses.
7 out of 10
The film looks like a big advertisement for a political party. No, not Russian, but American. For example, the filmmakers seem to have worked for either Democrats or Republicans. This feeling is barely perceptible, so most likely most of it will not even notice (and perhaps only I thought it even). Just towards the end of the film began to flash typical "excerpts of happiness" with beautiful views and thoughtful phrases.
If you look at the film in general, you can see a typical type of advertising, which can be described as “before and after”. I think we’ve all seen this kind of ad when we first see some unhappy person (often on a black and white background), labeled below as “before he/she started taking/using...” and immediately thereafter show the same person, but already cheerful and cheerful, as if he had solved a problem that had plagued him for many years. This movie is about the same thing. At first, a man worked on Wall Street, earned a lot of money, and then realized that all this is pointless, that life passes, and he is like a squirrel in a wheel and therefore decides to change his life dramatically. The problem with this is that it is one in a hundred thousand, the other employees whose companies are located on Wall Street are quite happy with their lives and the large sums they earn. In other words, it is not a fact that the problem lies in a high-paying job. Although the film tries to prove to us that “happiness is not in money,” it does it rather clumsily. Well, at least because it doesn't show people living ordinary, relatively hard lives. The film does not include poor neighborhoods. The film shows rich people or relatively wealthy people who, and this is the main problem of the whole film, did not completely give up their wealth.
Almost all the characters of the film are filmed against the background of expensive and comfortable apartments or even houses. The kitchen of one couple is typical American style and about the size of my entire apartment. These are typical American homes. And standing in such a kitchen to talk about minimalism, it's such an example of minimalism. The most devoted supporters of minimalism live in third world countries, because most of them have nothing. The film is not about minimalism, but about refusing to buy unnecessary goods. The most striking example of this is the purchase of a new iPhone every time, just because a new version or continuous purchase of clothes, only because the old, bought six months ago, out of fashion. Here I can agree and say that such consumerism is clearly excessive. However, the authors of the film do not say this, they offer almost extremes, almost asceticism. For example, a young man who got rid of all the items that didn't fit in his two bags. We are shown footage of him tearing up books (perhaps it was a notebook, because I don’t remember exactly what it was) and breaking something else. Why? Why bother with the public destruction of things if not for self-promotion? But that's not all. The young man travels to the states and lives in hotels. But to live in a hotel, you need money, right? So how many people can afford this lifestyle? Just a very, very narrow part of it. Another couple of young people (I mean friends) travel to lecture on minimalism all over the country. Uh? Doesn’t that sound like all of the activities they’re showing us in the film, like just self-promotion? Almost half of the film is shown to us by this couple, traveling from one lecture hall to another and from one TV studio/interview to another. Instead, the filmmakers could show a wider range of people than a narrow slice of wealthy U.S. citizens. Not only is there nothing in the film about the situation in less prosperous countries (as is the case there), but we don’t even show such people in Europe and Asia.
In general, it is easy to talk about minimalism, living in a country where you can buy / order absolutely anything at any time. When I first saw the film, I admired it, but now, in 2023, I gave it a neutral rating, not only because I watched it more closely, but because all of a sudden life changed in Russia. When I saw the movie for the first time, I thought I should buy a computer chair at IKEA, but I don’t have time to buy it. Or that there are a few Steam computer games that you need to buy on a promotion, because maybe I will play them someday. Today, i.e. in 2023, I bought them (though not all, not all), only noticeably overpaid. I bought a chair without seeing or sitting in it. In other words, this film is easy to admire, living in some Western country, where citizens know with 100% certainty that the goods to which they are accustomed, they will not go anywhere and therefore you can not clutter your room while buying for the future. But we are residents of the former Soviet Union, a country in which the most popular word was “deficit” and a country in which people queued up not because they needed a product (often they didn’t even know what it was for), but because it could, theoretically, be useful either to themselves, or relatives, or colleagues, or friends. But even if it is not useful to anyone, it can always be used as a barter. Westerners don’t know that, they don’t know what scarcity is, they don’t know what it’s like to be without the goods you’re so used to. So they can make movies like this for the rich and about the wealthy. However, for citizens of the former USSR (i.e. the CIS), such a film or such films, by and large, are of little interest. Well, yes, wealthy Muscovites could still, up to a certain point, lead the life of the Western bourgeois, but ... there are moments when the past, which they thought was gone forever, comes back. That’s why I re-evaluated the film. Perhaps in many years, living in Russia, it will be possible to say: it is time to end with consumerism and become a minimalist. In the meantime, circumstances make us all minimalists, whether we like it or not.
From the film, we can conclude that overconsumption is a consequence of an unreasonable lifestyle, not its cause. Like overeating. Almost all the characters of the film worked in the corporate sector and directly say that they went to corporations only for the sake of career and six-figure figures in the bank account, now they are engaged in educational activities and feel gratitude from people, the real return from their activities. I think that this fact is the reason for their moderate way of life, they supplemented their material activity with a certain “spiritual” component, so if you are initially engaged in activities not only for financial gain, but also arousing interest in us and a sense of their own usefulness to the world, society, then there is no difference we live in a shack or in motley choirs, and whether we wear a new outfit from the coutier every day – the main thing is how much this reflects us and our personal temperament, psychotype. There are more modest people, there are naturally more expressive and bright individuals. Just as every artist works in his own style and sees the world from his own angle, so every person can express himself as he is comfortable, the main thing is to feel that we are not cut off cogs from the world, that we are not robots who do something meaningless, stupid and unsuitable for their sincere aspirations only for the sake of imposed prestige and money, which really sooner or later cease to saturate.
Today I decided to watch a documentary, especially since I have not watched anything from this series for a long time. I didn’t have to look for a long time, because the topic of consumption and dependence on things has been in my head for a long time. And now, when my sister came on vacation with two children, and much more. My God, how many things they have, 5 huge bags, 4 of them with only clothes and shoes. People came only for three weeks, and brought with them all the wardrobe that was at home. She has a suitcase and a bag of things, and the children each have a bag of things, although they did not even have time to wear half of what they brought here, so everything lay in the bags, and they dragged so much weight. It’s like, “I’ll come in handy.” Terrible. I don’t know, maybe I don’t understand something about all this, but I don’t understand at all (pardon the tautology) why carry so many clothes with me.
And after watching this documentary, I once again became convinced that all this is not necessary. "Minimalism" - a documentary that allows you to rethink the philosophy of consumption imposed in modern society. The film shows live examples of people who chose a conscious lifestyle and consumption. This is not about extreme austerity or people living below the poverty line. On the contrary, the film shows how little a person really needs for a full life. The filmmakers tried to debunk the idea of the American dream, the basis of which is the accumulation of material wealth. The film makes you think about what really matters, what is the main thing, what is secondary. Heroes talk about how they had a revaluation of values and how their lives have changed.
This film is an antidote to the modern aggressive information environment, where most of the information is paid by someone and someone is profitable. Viewing it will allow you to take a new look at the usual things and understand that many surround themselves with unnecessary things, turning their homes into real warehouses of junk. The most real unnecessary junk, which often people grab in stores on the machine, because some action on them, but in fact this thing they do not need, and it then lies in the closet or on the balcony, for years, cluttering the space. Just because it's a pity to throw away.
It so happened that the desire for simplicity appeared in our lives before my husband and I learned about the fashion trend – minimalism. Simply because we grew up in such conditions when things and objects were bought only as needed, not because it is fashionable, beautiful, or because Light has, and I do not. And we still live this way, and the reason is not only limited finances, but the reality is that some thing is really not needed. We haven’t had a TV for 12 years, so we do without it, we have a computer and the Internet where you can watch everything you really need. Or I don’t have a touch phone, and I don’t want to buy it, my button suits me, especially since I only need it for calls. And not because I'm a prude or backward, as my sister says, but because I don't really need a touch phone. When the need arises, then I will buy, and while there is no such need. And so it is.
It was a pleasant surprise to learn in this film that a whole community of people, day by day, strives to rid their lives of the unnecessary. Books have been written about minimalism in life and films have been made. I think this idea has become so popular because people want to be free from the stereotypes of consumer society. We are not what we spend money on, we are what we spend time on.
For us, simple living and minimalism are also about prioritizing. You just need to set yourself a course to separate the important from the unimportant and start small. All experienced minimalists advise to start with cluttering the space. This is the first step that everyone can take. It is this step that helps to stop succumbing to mass chaos and start working on yourself.
This film helps people to get rid of excess through the game. The essence of the game is the sequential ordering of the space around you. On the first day, players are asked to throw away (or give away) one thing, on the second two, on the third three, and so on for thirty days. Our space influences the way of life.
Financial minimalism is not about limiting yourself in everything. It’s about spending your money only on what you really need. After all, if you stop exchanging money for “garbage”, it is immediately noticeable that now you can often afford to purchase something that makes life more comfortable, cozy and interesting.
Every purchase in our lives is driven by a need. Before going to the store, the requirements for a new thing are clearly formulated. We repair the broken thing and stitch the torn one if the thing is worth it. As well as considering options for “hand-buying”, sometimes you can find almost a new thing with a significant discount. We go shopping before making a list. This helps not to forget anything, and not to buy extra. Looking at the list, you can easily determine which occupation can be combined with something. If we go to the city, then we also solve other matters: visits to the post office or MFC, to visit friends, to the pharmacy and so on. The second point of limiting our purchases is not to spend money on things that are not important to us. After all, money is nothing but “time-force-nerves” spent on earning them. And we value our time-power-nerves more than much that money can buy.
Life in the style of minimalism is not about white walls, a lonely vase on an empty table, sausages with crackers and black and white clothes. This is about separating the important from the unimportant Every thing shifted from place to place, every stupid post on social media is stealing the time of our lives. Everything we leave in our lives should be worth it. Only in this way you can restore order in your life, and find a place for the really important.
Over time, I want to buy a house on wheels, this is both a means of transportation and housing only with what is really necessary in our lives.
A very interesting documentary that teaches a lot and changes the attitude towards life. I will even rate it as a feature film.
Director Matt D’Avella has his blog on YouTube, it was interesting to see how he implements this project, because despite the huge audience of fans who really like his charismatic personality and his work, this is not a short video with him in the “leading role”, but a full-fledged documentary for 53 minutes.
Like all his video documentary is made sound, visually beautiful, dynamic, complemented by animation, scenery from “memories” and in a rather concise form. There is even a dramaturgy – the story of the main character, which undoubtedly helps to easily keep your attention on the screen throughout the film, as well as illustrative examples of people who tell why and how they chose this kind of attitude to things and how it later changed their lives. Being to some extent already a minimalist, once again I find very useful and motivating all these ideas.
We are in a whirlpool, in the midst of commodity abundance, and on all sides of the imposed desire to possess various things, because we hope to become happier from this. We buy, take out loans, then work a lot at the expense of personal relationships, hobbies, just rest.
Despite the fact that not everyone wants to give up the desire to have a huge number of things, this film will help to see that possession of things brings a very short-lived “happiness”, and to feel happy really need something else. It is this “other” may not be specifically shown in the film, i.e. on what you will spend all kinds of resources saved by you – this choice is up to the viewer.
Minimalism is a way of life, a way to live each moment of life consciously and the ability to leave in it only what truly brings light. But this is not asceticism.
A film about important things – how to leave only what really pleases you. Acquaints with this way of life, shows the experience of people 'Plushkins' who became happier, having come to minimalism. Talks about the culture of consumption, fashion, branding, marketing. A lot of thinking is interesting. Nice to see the beautiful scenery.
But! After watching the movie, I had a strong feeling that for the last 1.5 hours of my life, I was encouraged to give up everything, take a cat and go live in a trailer. Give up everything except the most necessary. Make dramatic changes in one day. As a person who is on the path of minimalism and is actively interested in this topic, I categorically disagree with one of the main appeals of the film. Minimalism is not about asceticism.
Minimalism about mindfulness. Reasonable consumption. To fill life with light and joy from all that is in it. About moderation. About the primacy of relationships with loved ones. The importance of passion. Health. And the insignificance of things.
There must be a middle ground in everything. Minimalism is an extreme, just like buying too much stuff. Yes, the wedge kicks out, but this does not mean that you constantly need to be at this point of extreme, because it is energy-consuming. Everyone's needs are different. I don’t know if this idea was embedded in the film, but the space that surrounds you you need to love, and then you do not want to clutter it, and want maximum comfort and comfort, and again, for everyone it will be their own.
Minimalism is another tool, or even another interpretation, of consciously living the present moment. I think a lot of people have lost that connection and are thinking about the past and the future. But not today. Although the advantage is precisely in enjoying the life in which we are right now.
This film is a good attempt by happy people to show us how to be happy. Such techniques, shown through books, movies, lectures, history, there are still a lot. And if you have already watched this film and were inspired by it, then other techniques will soon appear in your life. Wait for new signs and take away those that are close to you.
“I would like everyone to become rich and famous so they can understand that this is not the answer.” Jim Carrey
I rarely watch documentaries, but since environmental issues, consumerism and minimalism are of interest to me, I decided to watch this film.
The film is easy to understand. Personal examples of people from different social strata show the reasons for choosing minimalism, and their path to “quality life”.
There is not much statistics in the film, but questions are raised about the impact of advertising and fast fashion, brands and trends on the quality of life, about the social significance of things.
It has become common to imitate other people’s lives, or even fictional ones, based on examples from advertising, using them as a measure.
Special attention is paid not only to the “degradation” of the planet and the economy, but also to the upbringing of children, personal choice, awareness. Interesting thoughts on the “American Dream” and its rethinking.
However, the film is very boring. I think superfluous "musical inserts", traveling before performances with jokes and hugs - this is not what I was set up for.
But such films should be made and you need to watch to think about the important.
“Love people and use things.” The reverse does not work.
