Thursday, October 16, 2008

A Man's Quest to Understand His Father

Every boy at some point in his life grapples with the question of who their father is. Eventually, there comes a time when we realize that our fathers are just human, are imperfect, and in many instances might even be failures in our eyes. Nathaniel Kahn grapples with this question in his 2003 documentary My Architect where he discovers that his always distant father, world renowned architect Louis Kahn, had actually been a good husband to another family his entire life. Nathan Kahn approaches the question from an intensely personal, yet surprisingly balanced point of view as he visits the people who knew his father best, his clients. As he tries to figure out the multiple personalities of his father, he delves deep into the psychology of our relationships with our parents and ultimately gives us all a deeper understanding of just how complex and messy most of our lives really are.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, Mr. Elastic Mind, Junior does do all that, and yes he makes what would otherwise be movie shown in 5th grade social studies, into something rather interesting. However, that does not take away, that Junior is a neurotic and complexed with some deep issues he should have dealt with or moved on from decades ago. I just have a hard time stomaching whiners.

Anonymous said...

That is probably the reason that Kahn Sr. was distant from Junior. Who wants to be associated with a neurotic dweeb. Even if it is your kid, farm him out to granma and send her a check every month.