Any one seen the new Sydney Pollack documentary, "Sketches of Frank Gehry"? Reactions?
I don't usually like to be a naysayer, but I was pretty appalled by the whole thing. What little respect I had for Gehry is now completely gone. His architecture is pompous, vacuous and completely self-indulgent.
Sydney Pollack's states at the beginning of the film that he knows nothing about Architecture and has never made a documentary. It shows. Why was "Tootsie" so good and this film so bad?
"What little respect I had for Gehry is now completely gone. His architecture is pompous, vacuous and completely self-indulgent."
I couldn't have said it better myself. I'll add to that that his 'sketches' make a mockery of the real talent it takes to be a visionary who makes the translation from dream to paper.
I saw it this weekend at The Modern in Fort Worth and would have honestly rather spent the time enjoying the Ando's architecture rather than listening to his pompous ass.
p.s. my favorite part was when Michael Eisner (Disney CEO) described Gehry's 'sketches' as 'those little scribbley doodle things'.
i agree it wasnt a good film.
the weirdest thing for me was i saw it in a small cinema in brooklyn and most of the audience were schoolkids and old age pensioners - that freaked me out before i went in.
also i got annoyed of seeing shots of pollack filming, what is that? a film of film blah blah.
I wonder if that "small cinema in Brooklyn" is going to get blown up to make way for the Atlantic yards project with the woman-shaped tower that they are calling "miss Brooklyn" and Frank describes as his "own little ego trip"
I feel so much better reading these reviews! I was in Portland Maine over the Labor Day weekend, and it rained and rained. My only time there - oh well. There was a small rundown "art" theatre downtown where it was playing..Good news because there just wasn't that much else going on..
I found myself dozing off repeatedly..The film was repetitive. There was an interesting correllation between Gehry and his young sidekick..
In one scene, Gehry talks about taking part in group therapy, but not talking for two years...Then in another scene with the sidekick, Gehry mentions that the sidekick didn't speak for a few years after he started working for him..and now he won't shut up!
After a while, all the buildings started to look the same, and the fancy schmancy computer program that made everything possible looked like a computer gimmick.
His buildings are easy to dislike, the whole thing comes off as some sort of wierd phenomenon or growth...I remember seeing a proposal of his for a huge museum in lower Manhattan - it was before 9/11 and what was wierd about it was that in retrospect it seemed to be forecasting in its form the clouds of dust and debris that flowed from the disaster site..
His work is another one of those human-crushing mega-phenomenons that is a symptom of this era. Have a martini and sigh - there's not much you can do about it.
i haven't seen the film yet, but this weekend i was in my neighborhood hollywood video and they had a whole bunch of copies... i was really surprised to see an architecture documentary so prominently displayed in a mainstream video store... i guess if there is a possibility that someone in the mainstream public could learn a bit about architecture it can't be that bad of a thing...
well some of it is okay... lets play devils advocate:
look at it this way, its like watching a blockbuster movie... it's not supposed to be about sensitivity... its all about bang, it is what it is, its about entertainment value... and that is where the return on investment comes.
funny thing is that its easy to trash it now, but later it might become kindof cult classic... it's not something that will ever become normal, it won't be easily repeated... people are buying the name, not primarily the work... and there is the factor of originality. sketches and doodles form the source are one thing, from an imitator its another thing.
there's a difference between being popular and being common.
I liked the bit when Gehry's assistants have a model they're working on but they think it doesn't quite look right (ie vertical walls and a horizontal roof). Enter Gehry followed by Pollack: he sighs, etc, rolls up his sleeves, exhales a bit more, then takes the paper off a wall of the model and scrunches it casually, then puts it on top and says to the effect, "now it's something". And everyone present agrees.
At Lincoln Centre, where I saw it, the cinema was full of old biddies and they applauded when the credits rolled. I shivered.
enjoyed it in the way i always enjoy puff pieces about architects.
especially enjoyed julian schnabel's uptown version of 'the dude' from lebowski.
his obvious joy in seeing the deutsche bank at the end was nice. touching things. his comment: 'i'm seeing this project for the first time now, and i'll only see it 3, 4 times in my life.'
it certainly wasn't at all critical of gehry, but that was forgivable because instead you got a document of a conversation between friends who are also artists. this was the value of it for me.
One thing I liked about it was the story about FG having dinner with the developer that he had done the Santa Monica Center for. The developer said he liked FG's house, and asked FG if he liked his own house. FG said that he liked his own house. Then the developer said, well, if you like this house, you probably don't like the Santa Monica Center you just did for me, right? FG admits it. That was interesting. Developer sez, then why did you do it? FG sez, I had to make a living. Developer sez, DON'T DO That! FG says he goes into work next day and cancels 44 projects taken "to make a living" and embarks on the adventure of just doing what he wants. Interesting. He says he goes bankrupt a couple of times, but...you know the rest. I thought this was a very interesting story. If it is true, it's a very gutsy stand to take, the road less travelled, for sure. I wonder if the psychic pressure of taking such a stand has a lot to do with heating up the creative crucible. I think it does.
The thing about FG is, he wants to be a sculptor, I think. He tries to slip in there as that in the public's mind, but Richard Serra scolds him and pushes him out of the sculptor's club. I read an interview with Serra where he did this to FG. It is pretty funny.
i havent seen this movie. i have seen tootsie though. anyway, does gehry at all mention artists like ken noland in this movie. cuz for me there is an obvious connection between the works of noland and fog's own house and his work of this period ie "unfinished". i know that gehry did a studio for noland. just curiouso?
I don't recall mention of Noland in the movie. I think a lot of practitioners of various "design" fields attempt to extract ore from mines started by "fine arts" experimenters. Why not?
I don't see why people are so anxious to claim "artist" "status." To me the word connotes phoniness nowadays because you can just announce it and there is no way to disprove it because there is no longer differentiation between trivia and profundity. I get embarrassed if people call me an artist.
I rented this from Blockbuster almost two years ago (at least). I can't understand why the US wouldn't have gotten this movie before Canada, although it did debut at the Toronto film fest in 2005. Yes, 2005.
I didn't love it, or really like it very much, but it wasn't horrible as a documentary of a person who's not really had the most interesting life or work. It's for sure an ego-trip but I had to see it. I think the only rewarding part was Julan Schnabel pretending to be 'the Dude.'
i think best documentary film about an architect is 'my father the genius' by lucia small the daughter of glen small. it has been edited by the same person who edited pollack's film.
i really didnt like the kahn movie. i thought that these illegit kids were only forgiving daddy cuz he was louis kahn. if kahn had been a bible salesman rather than a famous architect, they wouldn't have been so quick to forgive him. also, that guy was rather annoying and gravytrainin off his old man. as william faulkner once said to his daughter when she asked him to not drink so much. "who the fuck remember's shakespeare's daughter." there ya go.
shakespeares daughter? you mean isabell? oh yeah, great girl. danced like a dream. really tragic the way she ran off with that guy and then that thing happened. no wonder it was all kept so hush hush. ruined her career.
i didn't mind the film. tootsie is great pop art, but not deep art, so wattaya want? he just did it cuz he was into making things. no need to overanalyse. anyway, what have anyoo gehry phobiacs dun lately? yeh that's what i thought.
something about fame it just makes people so thrilled at the possibility of dragging a person down...to what end i say? to what end?
oh the, like, tragedy of it all. yaknow?
"No, we are not friends. I don't take this shit from friends. Only lovers."
Frank Gehry vs. Sydney Pollack
Any one seen the new Sydney Pollack documentary, "Sketches of Frank Gehry"? Reactions?
I don't usually like to be a naysayer, but I was pretty appalled by the whole thing. What little respect I had for Gehry is now completely gone. His architecture is pompous, vacuous and completely self-indulgent.
Sydney Pollack's states at the beginning of the film that he knows nothing about Architecture and has never made a documentary. It shows. Why was "Tootsie" so good and this film so bad?
Don't waste the $10+ to see it.
i would rather see a film about the films of sidney pollack that a film about the buildings of frank gehry...
Oops, people. Some tyops. My bad. I promise not to do it again.
Typos, not tyops. I need to practice. Ugh!
glad they got dressed up for the show!!!
"What little respect I had for Gehry is now completely gone. His architecture is pompous, vacuous and completely self-indulgent."
I couldn't have said it better myself. I'll add to that that his 'sketches' make a mockery of the real talent it takes to be a visionary who makes the translation from dream to paper.
I saw it this weekend at The Modern in Fort Worth and would have honestly rather spent the time enjoying the Ando's architecture rather than listening to his pompous ass.
p.s. my favorite part was when Michael Eisner (Disney CEO) described Gehry's 'sketches' as 'those little scribbley doodle things'.
i agree it wasnt a good film.
the weirdest thing for me was i saw it in a small cinema in brooklyn and most of the audience were schoolkids and old age pensioners - that freaked me out before i went in.
also i got annoyed of seeing shots of pollack filming, what is that? a film of film blah blah.
that's too bad. i really liked king ralph and hoped this would once again showcase pollack's talent
I wonder if that "small cinema in Brooklyn" is going to get blown up to make way for the Atlantic yards project with the woman-shaped tower that they are calling "miss Brooklyn" and Frank describes as his "own little ego trip"
its already on vcd in china town. haha, gotta love those architecture hackers. haha
I feel so much better reading these reviews! I was in Portland Maine over the Labor Day weekend, and it rained and rained. My only time there - oh well. There was a small rundown "art" theatre downtown where it was playing..Good news because there just wasn't that much else going on..
I found myself dozing off repeatedly..The film was repetitive. There was an interesting correllation between Gehry and his young sidekick..
In one scene, Gehry talks about taking part in group therapy, but not talking for two years...Then in another scene with the sidekick, Gehry mentions that the sidekick didn't speak for a few years after he started working for him..and now he won't shut up!
After a while, all the buildings started to look the same, and the fancy schmancy computer program that made everything possible looked like a computer gimmick.
His buildings are easy to dislike, the whole thing comes off as some sort of wierd phenomenon or growth...I remember seeing a proposal of his for a huge museum in lower Manhattan - it was before 9/11 and what was wierd about it was that in retrospect it seemed to be forecasting in its form the clouds of dust and debris that flowed from the disaster site..
His work is another one of those human-crushing mega-phenomenons that is a symptom of this era. Have a martini and sigh - there's not much you can do about it.
Sorry.
i haven't seen the film yet, but this weekend i was in my neighborhood hollywood video and they had a whole bunch of copies... i was really surprised to see an architecture documentary so prominently displayed in a mainstream video store... i guess if there is a possibility that someone in the mainstream public could learn a bit about architecture it can't be that bad of a thing...
well some of it is okay... lets play devils advocate:
look at it this way, its like watching a blockbuster movie... it's not supposed to be about sensitivity... its all about bang, it is what it is, its about entertainment value... and that is where the return on investment comes.
funny thing is that its easy to trash it now, but later it might become kindof cult classic... it's not something that will ever become normal, it won't be easily repeated... people are buying the name, not primarily the work... and there is the factor of originality. sketches and doodles form the source are one thing, from an imitator its another thing.
there's a difference between being popular and being common.
I liked the bit when Gehry's assistants have a model they're working on but they think it doesn't quite look right (ie vertical walls and a horizontal roof). Enter Gehry followed by Pollack: he sighs, etc, rolls up his sleeves, exhales a bit more, then takes the paper off a wall of the model and scrunches it casually, then puts it on top and says to the effect, "now it's something". And everyone present agrees.
At Lincoln Centre, where I saw it, the cinema was full of old biddies and they applauded when the credits rolled. I shivered.
just saw it tonight. free AIA program this month.
enjoyed it in the way i always enjoy puff pieces about architects.
especially enjoyed julian schnabel's uptown version of 'the dude' from lebowski.
his obvious joy in seeing the deutsche bank at the end was nice. touching things. his comment: 'i'm seeing this project for the first time now, and i'll only see it 3, 4 times in my life.'
it certainly wasn't at all critical of gehry, but that was forgivable because instead you got a document of a conversation between friends who are also artists. this was the value of it for me.
One thing I liked about it was the story about FG having dinner with the developer that he had done the Santa Monica Center for. The developer said he liked FG's house, and asked FG if he liked his own house. FG said that he liked his own house. Then the developer said, well, if you like this house, you probably don't like the Santa Monica Center you just did for me, right? FG admits it. That was interesting. Developer sez, then why did you do it? FG sez, I had to make a living. Developer sez, DON'T DO That! FG says he goes into work next day and cancels 44 projects taken "to make a living" and embarks on the adventure of just doing what he wants. Interesting. He says he goes bankrupt a couple of times, but...you know the rest. I thought this was a very interesting story. If it is true, it's a very gutsy stand to take, the road less travelled, for sure. I wonder if the psychic pressure of taking such a stand has a lot to do with heating up the creative crucible. I think it does.
The thing about FG is, he wants to be a sculptor, I think. He tries to slip in there as that in the public's mind, but Richard Serra scolds him and pushes him out of the sculptor's club. I read an interview with Serra where he did this to FG. It is pretty funny.
i havent seen this movie. i have seen tootsie though. anyway, does gehry at all mention artists like ken noland in this movie. cuz for me there is an obvious connection between the works of noland and fog's own house and his work of this period ie "unfinished". i know that gehry did a studio for noland. just curiouso?
I don't recall mention of Noland in the movie. I think a lot of practitioners of various "design" fields attempt to extract ore from mines started by "fine arts" experimenters. Why not?
I don't see why people are so anxious to claim "artist" "status." To me the word connotes phoniness nowadays because you can just announce it and there is no way to disprove it because there is no longer differentiation between trivia and profundity. I get embarrassed if people call me an artist.
the director, sydney pollack, just passed, anyone read about this?
i saw sketches of gehry, his last work, and it seems like for some famous people interviewed in the movie, it was also their last major appearance..
what if gehry dies?, will he be missed?
rip sydney! oh and where was he from? indianastan of course.
a true titan of the silver screen...he will be missed.
i liked how philip johnson said mies van der roh would turn in his grave if he saw frank's snakes and dinosaurs
I rented this from Blockbuster almost two years ago (at least). I can't understand why the US wouldn't have gotten this movie before Canada, although it did debut at the Toronto film fest in 2005. Yes, 2005.
I didn't love it, or really like it very much, but it wasn't horrible as a documentary of a person who's not really had the most interesting life or work. It's for sure an ego-trip but I had to see it. I think the only rewarding part was Julan Schnabel pretending to be 'the Dude.'
A much better doc is 'My Architect' about Kahn.
i think best documentary film about an architect is 'my father the genius' by lucia small the daughter of glen small. it has been edited by the same person who edited pollack's film.
I think Mies would roll. The Kahn documentary was great too.
But why so much Gehry hate? It's just a logical progression of architecture...
i really didnt like the kahn movie. i thought that these illegit kids were only forgiving daddy cuz he was louis kahn. if kahn had been a bible salesman rather than a famous architect, they wouldn't have been so quick to forgive him. also, that guy was rather annoying and gravytrainin off his old man. as william faulkner once said to his daughter when she asked him to not drink so much. "who the fuck remember's shakespeare's daughter." there ya go.
shakespeares daughter? you mean isabell? oh yeah, great girl. danced like a dream. really tragic the way she ran off with that guy and then that thing happened. no wonder it was all kept so hush hush. ruined her career.
i didn't mind the film. tootsie is great pop art, but not deep art, so wattaya want? he just did it cuz he was into making things. no need to overanalyse. anyway, what have anyoo gehry phobiacs dun lately? yeh that's what i thought.
something about fame it just makes people so thrilled at the possibility of dragging a person down...to what end i say? to what end?
oh the, like, tragedy of it all. yaknow?
"No, we are not friends. I don't take this shit from friends. Only lovers."
Thom, I believe it is natural also...
the last thing i want in a film is deep art.
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