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My Architect
New Yorker Films


9.1

based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 11 votes
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Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Frank O. Gehry, Philip Johnson, Nathaniel Kahn, and I.M. Pei

A tale of love and art, betrayal and forgiveness -- in which the illegitimate son of legendary architect Louis I. Kahn undertakes a five year, worldwide exploration to understand his long-dead father. (New Yorker Films)

GENRE(S):	Documentary
WRITTEN BY:	Nathaniel Kahn
DIRECTED BY:	Nathaniel Kahn
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: February 15, 2005 Video: February 15, 2005 Theatrical: November 12, 2003
RUNNING TIME:	116 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Also know as "My Architect: A Son's Journey"; Audience Award, 2003 Philadelphia Film Festival; Sterling Award, 2003 SilverDocs Nonfiction Film Festival; Best Documentary, 2003 Chicago International Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Obviously a profoundly personal film, but it's also a smartly conducted tour through the world of building and design that Kahn towered over during the most successful phases of his career.

100

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Not only is it the best documentary in a vintage season for nonfiction films (see "American Splendor," "Capturing the Friedmans," and "Spellbound"), it's also one of the best films of the year. It's as lyrical about the particulars of Kahn as it is about the universals of fathers and sons.

100

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

A first-person documentary with the subterranean pull of a superb confessional novel.

100

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Movies today rarely touch chords that are spiritual or deeply emotional, but Nathaniel Kahn's remarkable documentary My Architect: A Son's Journey does both.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The journey comes together to be one of the very best of the "in search of" documentaries: open-minded, informative, immaculately crafted, full of moving and highly privileged moments of discovery.

Washington Post Mark Jenkins

This impeccably structured documentary is a fine introduction to Kahn's work and a consistently entertaining real-life mystery.

Washington Post Benjamin Forgey

This is a bittersweet story, no question. But to the son's great credit, what emerges from his patient investigation is a remarkably rich, even sympathetic, portrait of the father.

Variety David Rooney

This fascinating portrait of an eccentric visionary and his chaotic triple family life is an accomplished, enormously satisfying non-fiction work.

Village Voice Leslie Camhi

An inspired homage to his father's work, and a bracing, bittersweet testament of filial love mixed with pain and compassion.

Chicago Reader David Schwartz

Absorbing, beautiful documentary.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

What a sad film this, and how filled with the mystery of human life.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Nathaniel fares well with his father's fellow masters, although Frank Gehry seems evasive.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

The result is an immensely enjoyable portrait of a strange-looking, non-comforming genius who loved women as much as designing masterpieces but was never able to commit to them. In other words: great architect, lousy family man.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The son is obsessive and petulant, punishing and self-pitying, and by the time he gets to a talk with his hurt old mother, we understand why.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

The most telling moment comes when his mother reveals that, despite all the subterfuge and false promises, she wouldn't have had it any other way.

The Hollywood Reporter Joe Mader

Tinged with sorrow, compassion, forgiveness and, ultimately, love. More than 25 years after his father's death, Nathaniel visits his father's architectural works and speaks to the people who knew him.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

The son's search is one of three strands of a story that the movie weaves into a meticulously structured portrait of a complicated man who remains elusive even after key elements of the puzzle have been pieced together.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Touring his father's magnificent structures, Nathaniel shows signs of coming around to his mother's point of view, and of realizing that Kahn's towering contributions to art and humanity perhaps exceed (if not altogether excuse) his shortcomings as a father, a husband, and a lover.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

What makes it enthralling is the younger Kahn's openness to a range of emotional responses (his own and others') to his father's life above and below board, and his readiness to turn his own predicament into both entertainment and a provisional kind of puckish wisdom.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Fathers and families and the impossibility of ever fully understanding either are at the heart of My Architect, and like Nathaniel Kahn, we come away from the film with a renewed appreciation of both.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

A twofold story of heroic achievements and personal failings.

Miami Herald Marta Barber

It is a stunning work that captures with elegance -- and touches of lyricism -- the challenge of finding the man through the artist.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Apparently Louis Kahn was not much of a father, raconteur or businessman. But he was a genius, and he left his mark on all the people whose lives he touched.

TV Guide Ken Fox

This touching documentary is many things at once: a fascinating biography, a gorgeously shot travelogue, a provocative disquisition on the relevance of architecture and, above all, the record of a son's poignant search for a father.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Nathaniel Kahn is very much a presence in this film, at times too much so. The title is properly read with the emphasis on the "my," and the work itself is a plea, understandable but disconcerting at times in its nakedness, to be linked irrevocably to his father.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The son has served the father well, though he faced an odd difficulty: the architect's life was so unusual that his son's understandable absorption with it steals a bit of time from his treatment of the work.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

Nathaniel will sometimes take it too far. It's particularly distracting, and even a little distancing, when he waits till the end of a lengthy interview to tell one of his father's former collaborators and friends that he is Louis' son.

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

Fascinating and heartbreaking film.

Empire David Parkinson

You'll be left as much in the dark as the director about the personality traits that inspired the loyalty of three strong, intelligent women towards this self-centred, physically-resistible enigma.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A fascinating look at a bizarre man and a brilliant talent. But a good deal of the movie is described by its subtitle -- "A Son's Journey'' -- and to the extent it is, the movie sags.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jay H. gave it a6:
I am not quite sure why the fuss over a relatively unknown architect, who apparently wasn't even that great. He is a fascinating character however, but hardly admirable. He was a selfish man as well as a semi-genius - in some ways. It is a well done documentary, it is certainly well researched. I am less than enthralled over the man or his work.

Ken L gave it a9:
An extremely interesting documentary by Louis Kahn's son. I really liked it. A story about a son trying to understand his father, with the backdrop of visiting most of his famous buildings. So, there are various themes -- the son's journey, the unusual life of Louis Kahn (and his three "families"), and the products of his work. A nice balance between interviews, vintage film of Kahn, Nathaniel's journey and Kahn's buildings. Also, a good Q&A session with the director on the DVD.

Kevin E. gave it a10:
I was surprised at how moved I was by this film. It works on so many levels, not the least of which is the teary-eyed appreciation shown by the beneficiary's of some of Kahn's great projects, like the Capital Complex in Bangladesh. I could watch smart, creative, thoughtful, complex, older people talk all day when they're as interesting as those shown by Nathaniel Kahn. A completely lovely and loving film, throughout.

Jon A. gave it a 10:
A Fantastic Film~ one all should see and admire.

Preston F. gave it a 10:
I was lucky enough to catch this wonderful film at its Baltimore debut. This is not to be missed!

Ann S. gave it an 8:
Beautiful, touching, i rarly am moved to the point of tears rolling down my checks as i watched these beautiful people being interviewed and espressing such tender feelings.

My Architect New Yorker Films

My Architect
New Yorker Films