A Brilliant Conflict

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

A captivating documentary, not only about nerds, but the human condition: obsession, longing, hubris, greatness. Grenzfurthner introduces himself as a tour guide through nerdvana, very ironic and self-aware, but also deeply honest about his upbringing, his interests and his political views. Some of the places, subjects and people are bizarre, some insightful and some politically and socially challenging, but always fun. That is the brilliance of Traceroute.

The viewer is guided on a journey through different stories and experiences of nerd culture and these all accumulate to define how places and people have shaped and inspired filmmaker Johannes Grenzfurthner's art and politics.Traceroute's quirky and ironic humour is effective throughout and this is showcased from the beginning when Grenzfurthner introduces the first stop on the road trip, San Francisco, as a place of endless opportunity, as well as homelessness. Within the various interviews that take place, there is a real sense that this is a collaborative exploration of creativity: of the old and the new, the past and the present, and the traditional and the digital. The use of photography and drawings interspersed between the interviews with various people associated with nerd culture shows an artistic approach to the material and these images act as reflective snapshots of moments in time, reinforcing the importance of looking back to the past as well as looking forward to the future of the digital age.

I'm a musician, and there is one thing I absolutely HATE: careless, sloppy, unsystematic soundtracks, especially in documentary films. I know that it's hard to discover good music, but: COME ON! If it's true, Traceroute had a *total* budget of $15,000. There are no excuses anymore!A great soundtrack is more than just a collection of great songs. A great soundtrack pulls a story along while somehow effortlessly blending into the background. The right one can help define a movie; a terrible one can ruin an otherwise decent film.Traceroute relies heavily on its amazing soundtrack to convey the mood of childhood and rebellion, nostalgia and counter-culture, traveling and arriving. There's a retro-electronic vibe present in most of the tracks, but also classical music, and all-time favorites like Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again.'I'm glad the track list is here on IMDb. I need it for my own road trips!

Most reviewers focus on the bizarre locations and interesting people that Johannes Grenzfurthner, the narrator-protagonist of "Traceroute", meets in his debut as a documentary filmmaker. That's interesting and fun and already way up on the scale, but what I find really outstanding is how he treats himself, as the main subject of the film. You might call it pretentious, but it truly isn't. Johannes is dissecting himself alive, and sometimes it almost hurts to watch. He is, even though he is telling it in an ironic way, very honest about his past, his interests, his politics. I mean, the film starts with his birth and ends with his (staged) *death*, just because he gets into a "nerd fight" about creationism. It's a never-before-seen finale in a "documentary" film, and very spot on. "Traceroute" is a film about accepting yourself, and others -- and this is beautiful.