My Architect
Commotion / Koch Records, 2004
REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 09/06/2004
It is rare that I get to see films these days. This is the reality of being a father of three kids working two jobs. If I want to see any film, it usually has to be rented from Blockbuster and viewed in a few sittings over crying, screaming and frequent interruptions.
Needless to say, I have not been able to get to the theatres to see My Architect, a film which was an Academy Award nominee for "Best Documentary". (Despite playing in only a handful of theatres, this film has done respectably; Box Office Mojo lists it in the top 20 highest grossing documentaries of all time.) Telling the story of architect Louis Kahn, the mystery and secrets of his life and his illegitimate son's coming to terms with his father's life and legacy, the story has to be powerful on film. I know the music is quite haunting, even if it does begin to lose some of its power past the halfway mark of this relatively short disc (20 tracks clock in at just under 41 minutes).
Joseph Vitarelli's score is indeed sparse, mostly driven by piano and little orchestral input with hints of Judaism thrown in to reflect Kahn's background. All together, the soundtrack does a better job at painting the struggle the movie is documenting than many other soundtracks written for major-market films. Mark Vitarelli's name now - chances are good we will be hearing a lot more from him in the years to come.
While the soundtrack's mood tells a little about Kahn's early life ("Beginnings…") and his religious upbringing ("Hayom T'amtzeinu"), for the most part the music creates a picture of uncertainty and struggle ("The Mystery Of Louis Kahn," "American Hymn I"), almost acting as an audio version of filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn's quest to discover just who his father was beyond the world of architecture. The inclusion of outside selections like "Fanfare For The Common Man" and "Happy Returns" does suggest rays of hope in the search, and maybe even suggests there is a happy ending in us all.
If there is one drawback to My Architect, it is that the soundtrack tends to lag in the second half. Tracks like "Chez Louis," "The Nomad" and "Dhaka" - even "Suite For Louis Kahn (End Credits)" - don't quite have the emotional punch the first half of the disc carries. The inclusion of "Call To Prayer," though, is wisely chosen, as it is hauntingly beautiful.
My Architect isn't the kind of film that will end up topping the box office charts, but it does have a soundtrack that is worthy of your attention, even if it doesn't end as strongly as one would have hoped.