Our current superstar on the world's architectural stage is profiled in this excellent documentary, the first by veteran narrative filmmaker Sydney Pollack, who is an old friend of Gehry's. The film has a relaxed, confident pace. And through it we learn about as much as one could ever hope to know about one man's process of transforming an initial sketch - some call it doodling: typically minimal, erratically penned lines and squiggles, a sloppy geometry if there ever was one - into a monumental structure.
This is no small task in Gehry's case, since he flaunts all of the staid rules of architecture. Rather than being constrained by conventional wisdom, he emulates the freedom of a painter or sculptor: folks in whose company he is far more comfortable than he is with other architects. In fact he'd rather have been a painter. Thanks to computer technology and rich clients seeking unusual structures, Gehry has the luxury these days of placing his doodles in the hands of a phalanx of model makers, software wizards and engineers who translate them into plans that work.
But it doesn't happen fast. Pollack brings forth from Gehry a demonstration of what is perhaps the central element in his success: a characteristic tendency to look honestly at his early efforts on a project, permit himself to experience displeasure, and reject the initial attempt in part or wholly, starting over again with an increased sense of confidence that his next draft will be better because of what he learned the first time around. (He worked for 12 years with one client to get a project right. It cost $6 million!)
The many scenes in which Gehry is engaged in dialogue with Pollack are excellent, illuminating his approach to his work and recalling early influences (his grandmother built structures of wood scraps with him on the floor as a young child; his father drew with him). Brief interviews with architects Philip Johnson and Edward Ruscha are also useful. Far less interesting are media/entertainment luminaries like Bob Geldof, Michael Eisner, Barry Diller and Michael Ovitz, who merely chatter at us as a way of introducing buildings Gehry has designed. (Who knows, maybe Pollack got money to finance the film by giving these people airtime, sort of like product placement.)
If the process of Gehry's architectural creation is well mapped here, the demonstration of his creative productions suffers some. Yes, we do get to see most of his public structures, and several private dwellings as well. And the uses of light and camera angles yield some quite exquisite views. But it all tends to go by too fast: the tracking shots are too speedy; the cuts too brief. It would have been better to linger more, to give viewers of these magical structures, many of whom might, after all, never have a chance to visit most of them, the sort of long gaze one would stop to take in if visiting the premises.
Movement is central to narrative film-making, as Pollack knows. Yet moments of repose are incredibly valuable in the documentary form, if art is the subject. Yes, I meant to say art, for what is most clear from this film is that Frank Gehry is - first and foremost - an artist.
Thanks to his talent and good fortune Gehry has found a way to yoke his artist's vision to contemporary technology to make structures that are aesthetically sublime, buildings that seem to defy and at times even escape the laws of physics that architecture demands to be fulfilled. My Grade: B+ 8/10
This is no small task in Gehry's case, since he flaunts all of the staid rules of architecture. Rather than being constrained by conventional wisdom, he emulates the freedom of a painter or sculptor: folks in whose company he is far more comfortable than he is with other architects. In fact he'd rather have been a painter. Thanks to computer technology and rich clients seeking unusual structures, Gehry has the luxury these days of placing his doodles in the hands of a phalanx of model makers, software wizards and engineers who translate them into plans that work.
But it doesn't happen fast. Pollack brings forth from Gehry a demonstration of what is perhaps the central element in his success: a characteristic tendency to look honestly at his early efforts on a project, permit himself to experience displeasure, and reject the initial attempt in part or wholly, starting over again with an increased sense of confidence that his next draft will be better because of what he learned the first time around. (He worked for 12 years with one client to get a project right. It cost $6 million!)
The many scenes in which Gehry is engaged in dialogue with Pollack are excellent, illuminating his approach to his work and recalling early influences (his grandmother built structures of wood scraps with him on the floor as a young child; his father drew with him). Brief interviews with architects Philip Johnson and Edward Ruscha are also useful. Far less interesting are media/entertainment luminaries like Bob Geldof, Michael Eisner, Barry Diller and Michael Ovitz, who merely chatter at us as a way of introducing buildings Gehry has designed. (Who knows, maybe Pollack got money to finance the film by giving these people airtime, sort of like product placement.)
If the process of Gehry's architectural creation is well mapped here, the demonstration of his creative productions suffers some. Yes, we do get to see most of his public structures, and several private dwellings as well. And the uses of light and camera angles yield some quite exquisite views. But it all tends to go by too fast: the tracking shots are too speedy; the cuts too brief. It would have been better to linger more, to give viewers of these magical structures, many of whom might, after all, never have a chance to visit most of them, the sort of long gaze one would stop to take in if visiting the premises.
Movement is central to narrative film-making, as Pollack knows. Yet moments of repose are incredibly valuable in the documentary form, if art is the subject. Yes, I meant to say art, for what is most clear from this film is that Frank Gehry is - first and foremost - an artist.
Thanks to his talent and good fortune Gehry has found a way to yoke his artist's vision to contemporary technology to make structures that are aesthetically sublime, buildings that seem to defy and at times even escape the laws of physics that architecture demands to be fulfilled. My Grade: B+ 8/10