This is a lengthy biography of Frank Lloyd Wright by Ken Burns--after Burns had become a very celebrated documentarian. "The Civil War" had created a HUGE sensation when it aired on PBS and his polish and skills as an artist made this an ideal project for Burns. Here, Burns makes among his best films--and manages to impress the viewer with a very complex man--a man you can love AND hate at the same time!
I chose to watch this film for two reasons. First, I think Burns could do a documentary about lint and I'd watch it--his work is THAT good. Second, I just saw a film about Ayn Rand and Frank Lloyd Wright was her ideal hero that she imitated in "The Fountainhead". And, as I watched "Frank Lloyd Wright", I noticed that in many ways he was just like a male version of Rand! Both eschewed conventional morality and thought selfishness was, in fact, a virtue.
This is an amazing biography, as unlike most subjects of such films, apart from his brilliance in his field, Frank Lloyd Wright was, for want of a better term, a narcissist. Throughout this Ken Burns film, you learn how he lied, used people, ran up debts, was AMAZINGLY arrogant and just felt that conventional morality just didn't apply to anyone as wonderful as him. He was insufferable...but for him it worked. Why? Because his skills as an architect and designer were so original and so great. Plus, he was the master at charming people and putting on an image people just adored. In other words, his arrogance and odd ways impressed people because they expected such actions from a genius! My feeling is that I would have loved him to design something for me, but I would have hated to have him as a member of my family or count on him as a friend.
What are some of the delightful things this guy did over his life? When I had an affair at age 42, he abandoned his family and ran off to Europe--leaving his family with all his debts! The great architect, Louis Sullivan, hired a young Wright before he gained renown. Despite violating his contract with Sullivan, he did assignments on the side AND went so far as to claim he, and not his boss, had designed some great structures (which was an outright lie he made in order to get one of these jobs). As one person so aptly put it, "...he was a nasty man". Yet, despite all this, his work was, at times, pretty amazing and created a huge impact on other architects.
By the way, although I disliked Wright as a human being, the incident with Julian Carleton was very, very sad and you had to feel for Mr. Wright. See the film and you'll know what I mean.
I chose to watch this film for two reasons. First, I think Burns could do a documentary about lint and I'd watch it--his work is THAT good. Second, I just saw a film about Ayn Rand and Frank Lloyd Wright was her ideal hero that she imitated in "The Fountainhead". And, as I watched "Frank Lloyd Wright", I noticed that in many ways he was just like a male version of Rand! Both eschewed conventional morality and thought selfishness was, in fact, a virtue.
This is an amazing biography, as unlike most subjects of such films, apart from his brilliance in his field, Frank Lloyd Wright was, for want of a better term, a narcissist. Throughout this Ken Burns film, you learn how he lied, used people, ran up debts, was AMAZINGLY arrogant and just felt that conventional morality just didn't apply to anyone as wonderful as him. He was insufferable...but for him it worked. Why? Because his skills as an architect and designer were so original and so great. Plus, he was the master at charming people and putting on an image people just adored. In other words, his arrogance and odd ways impressed people because they expected such actions from a genius! My feeling is that I would have loved him to design something for me, but I would have hated to have him as a member of my family or count on him as a friend.
What are some of the delightful things this guy did over his life? When I had an affair at age 42, he abandoned his family and ran off to Europe--leaving his family with all his debts! The great architect, Louis Sullivan, hired a young Wright before he gained renown. Despite violating his contract with Sullivan, he did assignments on the side AND went so far as to claim he, and not his boss, had designed some great structures (which was an outright lie he made in order to get one of these jobs). As one person so aptly put it, "...he was a nasty man". Yet, despite all this, his work was, at times, pretty amazing and created a huge impact on other architects.
By the way, although I disliked Wright as a human being, the incident with Julian Carleton was very, very sad and you had to feel for Mr. Wright. See the film and you'll know what I mean.