One Word Movie

Sketches of Frank Gehry

OK, so I think Frank Gehry's architecture is terrific, but this is a stinker of a film, and it feels long at 83 minutes. Sydney Pollack does a load of interviews with Gehry, but he commits the mistakes of a) knowing nothing about architecture and b) saying it at great length. Also, he shoots big chunks of the film himself, but he is clearly has no idea how to operate a camera. Basic rules of lighting and composition are ignored, and if you think I'm being hysterical about this, consider that there is one scene where Gehry is relating how his shrink told him to leave his wife, and he did, and while he's doing this Pollack doesn't get Gehry's eyes in the frame. In his relationship with Gehry in general Pollack strikes one as the thick one out of Mice and Men with a video camera clenched in his hairy fist.

There isn't really much attempt to explain why Gehry is such a talent, and Gehry himself is never caught off-guard, he's always performing for the stumbling, sycophantic Pollack. I wanted someone like Werner Herzog to fix Gehry with his cold blue teutonic eyes and laserbeam his soul. If you'd like to watch a documentary about architecture, may I recommend My Architect, which almost made me cry. This picture, by contrast, is a complacent and cock-heavy load of guff and heartily deserves the shit rating.

There is one redeeming feature, however, and that is that Julian Schnabel really looks like The Dude.

posted by Chairman Peyote @ 1:42 PM