Ah, the “Yard Sale” sign, nature’s siryn song for the moocher, cheapskate, freeloader, collector, and occasional noble poor person seeking a bargain. Why buy a hundred dollar mattress when you can get a twenty buck worn in one? I pity the fools who pay two-hundred bucks for a couch set whilst I buy one for thirty bucks. And where else can you get a bean bag or water bed? I ask you. Like the mythical mermaid, with its large red bold letters, it draws us by our pants pocket, as we stroll with wide eyes and staggers like a Romero film, and occasionally we find a golden nugget within its confines.
“Yard Sale” examines—well—you know… look at the title and do the math, genius. It’s an original film that not only examines selling our old crap, but how clutter can represent us. Speaking as a self-admitted pack rat, I can safely say parting with your stuff isn’t easy, and “Yard Sale” profiles a young expectant couple who must part with their stuff to make space for new clutter: their child. So, the subject of our documentary travels to different yard sales to ask how people are able to get rid of their possessions. Now, to some profiling someone who is trying to sell you on used pacifiers may not sound like a reasonable topic for a short subject documentary, but “Yard Sale” is an existential look at getting rid of childish things (as the quote goes) and moving on with your life.
It’s bittersweet, it’s fascinating, it’s original, and it explores the start of a new life. And how you can find some wicked stuff in these sales; our director buys a mint condition super eight handheld film camera, a woman sells an “Earth, Wind, and Fire” jacket, and one woman selling a rocking chair is drawn to tears explaining its origin to the buyer. But, also, it explores how desperate many of us are to cling to our lives that we clutter it with mementos, yet these mementos can weigh on us and be a burden; however it’s a double-edged sword because once you forget the mementos, you forget your past. “Yard Sale” ultimately says sometimes you have to let go, move on, and start anew.
