Change Your Image
nearlincoln
Reviews
My Architect (2003)
gr8 film
Lois Kahn had scars from being burned as a child, so his deliberate school tardiness helped him avoid ridicule yet the way he appeared when he walked was inconsistent with a man feeling inferior. The inconsistencies in Kahn's life were abundant. "Louis Kahn My Architect" is a documentary found with some hunting on youtube, because the many excerpts vids with the same title make the full documentary an unlikely first click. It begins with the surviving illegitimate son reading the late architect's obituary on fiche, which is a symbolic scene. In addition to opening with the man credited for making the film as a product of old-fashioned thorough research it also shows a man under credited for being the late architect's son who, today, is largely under credited for his architectural achievements. Dear kind readers: Declaring, "boring" and clicking beyond is the most common reaction to this movie -- it's not a blockbuster. If you want to give yourself hope of finding the KO-emotional punch, then look for the documentarian's image reflected in the glass as he scans fiche on the projector. Sincerely, Tom Doody. It's a magical film-making moment at the start of a film Hana and I have seen to the end three times. Hana and I have plans to visit Salk Institute on California's Pacific Coast. Why? Because it's more practical than a visit to the Capital of Bangladesh. Kahn's life was filled with inconsistency, and one of those inconsistencies produced Nathaniel Kahn who survived the late architect, lived to make this film, and Nathaniel lives today. With this film he has unearthed some deep-seated emotion, and exposes it. The surviving son generates scenes of emotional awkwardness, which are tortuous. It's ironic how the awkward scenes are self inflicted, and not the work of manipulative pop media trying to expose dark moments of celebrities. The brilliance of the film is how the documentarian's emotion becomes central to the film without distracting his viewers from the subject. Alternatively his emotion illuminates his father's achievements. Like all great men, Louis Kahn was a great man -- sort of.