My Architect

Perhaps it’s because I rent DVDs online, but I often seem to watch films with similar themes close together in time (Christiane F and Trainspotting, for example). I’ve just watched My Architect for the second time; and spent the entire film realising that it’s everything Tarnation could have been. Nathaniel Kahn goes looking for the spirit of his architect father, Louis Kahn, by travelling the world and finding the buildings (and people) that he touched. This film has real poignancy and warmth. Louis was a quality-over-quantity artist, and it’s apparent in all the architecture here, beautifully photographed.

There’s little crying but still the full gamut of emotion - one can tell Nathaniel really wants to understand the father he barely knew. The film is as much about the relationship between people (Louis Kahn had children by three women) as it is about architecture, but it’s a masterful experience, well documented and with a well-chosen score. A quality documentary, and well worthy of its Oscar nomination.