Grade: B+ | Genre: Documentary Summary: Every scar, flaw and stroke of brilliance in the complex genius of Louis Kahn shines through in this compelling documentary.

Kahn was one of the few architects whose artistry and vision superseded the architecture itself. Form and function were simply a means to an end. He was a notorious pain in the ass to work with due to his refusal to compromise his vision and often lost jobs because of this stubbornness. Even though he didn't hit his stride until he was 52, he developed some astounding feats of architecture in his abbreviated working life including the awe-inspiring capital of Bangladesh and the Sauk Institute. His work was ground breaking, innovative and would change how generations of architects look at their craft. His complete devotion to his art didn't come without consequences. Like many other great artists before him, his personal life always took a backseat and was in complete shambles. He had three separate families which only had a inkling of knowledge about the existance of each other, none of his projects made money save the Sauk Institute sinking him a half million dollars in debt and he would be found dead of a heart attack in Penn Station where his unidentified body sat in the morgue for 3 days before being claimed. Nathaniel, My Architect's director, was one of the black sheep children. Most of his father's associates that Nathaniel encounters didn't even know Louis even had a son. One actually forced him to cough up a birth certificate to prove it. You can see how this tears Nathaniel to shreds, as he needs to know that he was important to his father. Nathaniel's struggle to find out about his father and the impact he made on so many lives through his work constantly beckons back to his need to forgive him for the father he never was. Forgive the neglect and the void Louis created in Nathaniel and his mother's lives. Watching him interview his mother trying to tap into her anger and disappointment that he knows she feels can be uncomfortable to watch but you see it's necessary in his healing process. If the movie has a downfall, it's that at times he loses perspective since the director is too close to the material for objectivity. Also at times he spends too much time centered on some of these personal aspects neglecting the architectural work. The later is a small criticism though since the personal aspects are surprisingly just as compelling as Kahn's work. Overall this is a great documentary really opening up the life of this great architect. Every scar, flaw and stroke of brilliance of this complex genius shines through in this compelling documentary.

Rent this film now at Netflix.