MovieChat Forums > Visual Acoustics (2009) Discussion > Very good documentary about modernist ar...

Very good documentary about modernist architecture


I just got back from seeing this and was pleased.
It is a pretty good history of Modernism as captured through Julius Shulman's lens. I have read books with some of the architects mentioned, (Neutra, Wright, Lautner) but had not had the opportunity to study some others. (Williams, Soriano, Schindler) So there is much reading for me to do in order to catch up.
The film presents a nice overview of Shulman's life as well, of course, but coming in at around 90 min I wish it had been longer and covered the period when he "retired" from professional photography because of his distaste for the Post modernist architecture that sprang up before the 80s.
I also wish that the film had contained more of the real history of the modernism architects. Don't get me wrong, they do cover a lot but plenty of it is literally run through to give the unaware - myself - a reader's digest version of the history of modern architecture. More of this would have been appreciated.
Shulman apparently did some teaching and speaking, but I do not remember them mentioning any specifics during the movie. Also speaking with an editor at Taschen who had bought the rights to his pictures, the editor mentions his "first wife" but again no wife was mentioned specifically by name. Also while looking for information on the man most seems to be interviews in the 2005-2007 era right before his death. what did he do during the 80s and 90s?
Really much of the movie has him going back to the houses of some of his most famous pictures and reliving those moments. While well handled, it did give one the feeling that they were doing a "greatest hits" final tour for him.
I of course have many architecture books which display a lot of Shulman's work so I had known his work before I really knew who he was.
This film is well worth a look if you love architecture and live near a major metropolitan area where this movie will be screened. If that is not the case, then the DVD is not to be missed.

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