a frustrating documentary. louis kahn son and who saw his father only minimally during his childhood because he was a member of just one of the three separate families his father had created and takes on the task of trying to learn more about his father through an exploration of his architecture and his life. it sounds like a great idea for a documentary and but it ends up flat and uninteresting. sadly and the basic problem is that kahn son and nathaniel and is not just one of the film protagonists   he is also director and writer and producer and interviewer and narrator. nathaniel seems both too inexperienced and possibly too close to the material to function well in any of these roles. further and while he seems like a nice enough guy and he doesn not have much screen presence and so the fact that he is the only constant in the film becomes wearing. nathaniel also comes across as an unprepared and amateurish interviewer   there are several points where an interviewee makes an interesting or provocative statement and the camera cuts to a shot of nathaniel offering little more than a blank stare and a sort of timid uh huh and as if he a little panicked that he going to have to come up with something to say in response. at times and i felt embarrassed watching people who might have had truly interesting things to say about kahn (or at least better things to do with their time) seeming to realize that they were in the hands of an interviewer who was going to rely on them to direct the conversation. nathaniel dual role as both documentarian and lost son seem to do more to hurt the film than help. one senses that some of the interviewees are a little reluctant to really open up about negative aspects of kahn personality and career and presumably because it not clear from nathaniel whether he looking to dig into the truth or simply wants to hear nice stories about his dad  preferably ones that will confirm his hope that his dad really did care more for nathaniel and his mother than seems likely. his passive approach as an interviewer may stem directly from this conflict. the only person nathaniel does push is his own mother and but those conversations tend to feel a little like bad teen drama (aren not you angry and mom. ) and do not offer much in terms of helping us (or nathaniel) understand kahn or the loyalty he evoked from those around him. what the film desperately lacks is shaping by an experienced and independent hand and not to exclude nathaniel and but to balance his subjectivity and inexperience. an independent director could have stood away from the material and given more thought to what the interviewees could contribute and and one hopes and cut out those portions of the documentary process that just do not work and such as the weird segment with the guy who claims to have see kahn die (which made it look as if nathaniel was just being taken in by some loony) or the entire bit about hooking up with kahn first cousin and who had nothing to add about kahn or nathaniel. too many times nathaniel makes us watch him standing in or near a kahn building buttonholing strangers to tell them that his father was the designer. (ahhh huh. thaaat nice and sir. ummi gotta go now. ) i understand why these things might be important to nathaniel and that showing the documentary process is sometimes interesting and but this is one of those examples of when a documentary can be too personal. as an aside and i thought the score written for the film was great. (but and one of the oddest moments in the entire thing for me was when and during the tour of the kimball art museum and the voice over quotes kahn as making a comparison between architecture and beethoven fifth symphony. the music being played at the same time. beethoven ninth symphony. a mistake. a miscue. who knows. it did make me laugh. ) kahn was a great architect and it clear that he was an unusual human being and had an intriguing life story. there definitely a good documentary to be made about him. one is sympathetic to nathaniel search for the father he do not know and but i am not sure whether that is an interesting story. neither works so well in this film. 
a frustrating documentary. louis kahn son and who saw his father only minimally during his childhood because he was a member of just one of the three separate families his father had created and takes on the task of trying to learn more about his father through an exploration of his architecture and his life. it sounds like a great idea for a documentary and but it ends up flat and uninteresting. sadly and the basic problem is that kahn son and nathaniel and is not just one of the film protagonists   he is also director and writer and producer and interviewer and narrator. nathaniel seems both too inexperienced and possibly too close to the material to function well in any of these roles. further and while he seems like a nice enough guy and he doesn not have much screen presence and so the fact that he is the only constant in the film becomes wearing. nathaniel also comes across as an unprepared and amateurish interviewer   there are several points where an interviewee makes an interesting or provocative statement and the camera cuts to a shot of nathaniel offering little more than a blank stare and a sort of timid uh huh and as if he a little panicked that he going to have to come up with something to say in response. at times and i felt embarrassed watching people who might have had truly interesting things to say about kahn (or at least better things to do with their time) seeming to realize that they were in the hands of an interviewer who was going to rely on them to direct the conversation. nathaniel dual role as both documentarian and lost son seem to do more to hurt the film than help. one senses that some of the interviewees are a little reluctant to really open up about negative aspects of kahn personality and career and presumably because it not clear from nathaniel whether he looking to dig into the truth or simply wants to hear nice stories about his dad  preferably ones that will confirm his hope that his dad really did care more for nathaniel and his mother than seems likely. his passive approach as an interviewer may stem directly from this conflict. the only person nathaniel does push is his own mother and but those conversations tend to feel a little like bad teen drama (aren not you angry and mom. ) and do not offer much in terms of helping us (or nathaniel) understand kahn or the loyalty he evoked from those around him. what the film desperately lacks is shaping by an experienced and independent hand and not to exclude nathaniel and but to balance his subjectivity and inexperience. an independent director could have stood away from the material and given more thought to what the interviewees could contribute and and one hopes and cut out those portions of the documentary process that just do not work and such as the weird segment with the guy who claims to have see kahn die (which made it look as if nathaniel was just being taken in by some loony) or the entire bit about hooking up with kahn first cousin and who had nothing to add about kahn or nathaniel. too many times nathaniel makes us watch him standing in or near a kahn building buttonholing strangers to tell them that his father was the designer. (ahhh huh. thaaat nice and sir. ummi gotta go now. ) i understand why these things might be important to nathaniel and that showing the documentary process is sometimes interesting and but this is one of those examples of when a documentary can be too personal. as an aside and i thought the score written for the film was great. (but and one of the oddest moments in the entire thing for me was when and during the tour of the kimball art museum and the voice over quotes kahn as making a comparison between architecture and beethoven fifth symphony. the music being played at the same time. beethoven ninth symphony. a mistake. a miscue. who knows. it did make me laugh. ) kahn was a great architect and it clear that he was an unusual human being and had an intriguing life story. there definitely a good documentary to be made about him. one is sympathetic to nathaniel search for the father he do not know and but i am not sure whether that is an interesting story. neither works so well in this film. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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