I never saw "Stone Reader," but I was impressed with how Nathaniel Kahn turned what might have been a narcissistic therapy session into a moving consideration of how the impact of a man's work can perhaps forgive the personal wreckage he leaves in his wake. I found it telling that both of Louis Kahn's mistresses showed up to the funeral--in spite of the strong wishes of his wife Esther--even though their respective affairs ended in heartbreak (and illigitimate children). Nathaniel's own mother tells him it was worth it, just for a chance to work with him on his projects, but I think that it finally hits him (and us) hard when he sees that magnificent capital building in Bengladesh and the (deeply spiritual) impact it has on the people. Good stuff.

Yeah, you might think that some people would put up with the eccentricities of a well-known architect out of ambition, but I don't get that sense from the women in Kahn's life, even though they worked with him. His work says something else to them, I think. Like you said, they stayed with him to the end, and beyond, really.

My wife points out that there is a kind of woman out there who is content with having a piece of a man, perhaps spurred on by the fantasy that he will eventually leave his wife and devote himself to her. And that's at least partially true of Nathaniel's mother. Does the work prove to her that this man can communicate, can love? That what he lacks in day-to-day grace he makes up for in something concrete elsewhere, literally? Does his work prove to the world that what she tells herself is true, that he is a kind, generous, spiritual person? On the other hand, she probably never laid eyes on the capital in Bangladesh, and maybe never heard much about it.

For Nathaniel, though, there's the added twist that he didn't know his father as an adult, so he now looks for him in whatever is left -- his mother, Lou's colleagues, and Lou's buildings -- and he hopes to find the heart of the man. I suppose it's easier to forgive someone who's passions were simply misplaced (or at least atypical) rather than completely absent, so the impact of the capital building is a welcome relief, to everybody.

I compared Kahn's documentary to The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack in my capsule. While Jack Elliott was busy forming the link between Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, his daughter wondered when he was going to come home and form the link to his family. Maybe there's some comfort in knowing that her father's indirect legacy is incalculable, but, for her at least, the world got a better deal than she did.

Funny, I very nearly mentioned "The Ballad Of Ramblin' Jack" in my review, too, since both are about neglected children in search of absent fathers. Of the two, I think Kahn's film is ultimately the more generous towards its subject; there's a sense of comfort and reconsiliation that his father's legacy lives on in those buildings--and that's enough for Nathaniel in the end. Ramblin' Jack's daughter, on the other hand, remains bitter; there's a scene in which she confronts him that I remember being pretty exploitative, a private exchange that I didn't think we should be privy to watching. Nathaniel's film strikes me as less theraputic, more intellectually curious, and comes out with a fairer assessment of its brilliant scoundrel.

True. I don't remember that part of Ramblin Jack, but I do remember that the daughter's bitterness outweighed just about everything else. It probably helps Nathaniel that his father has been gone so long, some 30 years, that he's had time to ruminate, time to figure him out. You're right -- he doesn't seem to have any resentment. Jack's daughter, Aiyana, still hopes that her living, breathing, rambling father will apologize. Nathaniel knows he's not getting an apology, and (therefore?) doesn't look for one.

If you have seen a masterpiece sketch by a master artist where a portrait is depicted with a simple few powerful brush strokes and wondered how beautiful and overwhelming it is then you would wonder about this man by seeing a few screen shots and listen to a few audio clips to discover the master Architect who walked his life in mystery and in silence as if he was not really fit for this world but was comfortable in the higher planes of spiritual awareness where the music of matter and mind are played in a symphonic scale. You will observe from his lifestyle that his mind was occupied with Architecture which took him to a state of meditation, you contemplate his thoughts and understand that his mysterious nature is almost like the mystery of life, his silent gesture is almost like the silence in space, his understanding of light and space is almost like the understanding of creation. Einstein tried to understand Light, Space and Matter in terms of Mathematics, Michaelangelo saw it in art and Kahn found it in Architecture. He found abode in more than one woman in secrecy during his physical life but his spirit was free like a saint, free of belongings and worldly possesions that he proves in death. You see a man whose thoughts and philosophy far surpasses his success and his inspiration flows with time. We are fortunate to have this Master Architect 'Louis Isadore Kahn' visit our country to materialize his thoughts and philosophy and contribute the greatest gift of architecture to our country 'The National Assembly Building'. This documentry 'MY ARCHITECT' on the life of 'Louis Kahn' directed by his son captures the very honesty of it all. There's some excellent shots of the building in Dhaka. It is worth messing up the days schedule to see the documentary, I think we all owe it to him.
If you miss to see it then you will be okay because you wouldn't know what you missed but if you see it then you would know what is missing in you.

Thanks for your comments, Mohammed. You obviously have a reverence for Louis Kahn. Earlier this year I was in San Diego, California, and took a tour of the Salk building that looks out across the Pacific Ocean, where Nathaniel roller skates in the movie. It's a peaceful place.

I think his son's movie shows the same sort of respect for the man, but one of the things I liked about it was that it also shows him as a complex and perhaps flawed human being who had difficulty relating directly to people. Whether his passions were misunderstood or misplaced is hard for anyone to say. Certainly he seems to have touched people who never met him, through his architecture, a rare ability.

I was touched by Nathaniel's movie about his father. His father was a perfect example of what society and his Jewish background taught him about the connection between life and work, i.e. Happiness is achieved through attainment of goals through work.

Being an American, I thought the same thing up to my first 21 years of life. However, I soon realized that after all the achievements I still was not happy in my heart. Achieving goals did not give me lasting happiness. This is the lesson that Kahn's father never learned until maybe close to the time of his death. This is when he crossed out his address and probably realized that his happiness did not exist there but probably with Nathaniel's mother but it was too late.

Attaining material goals only give temporary happiness and it addicting. You have to keep attaining goals in order to keep that fleeting temporary happiness. Louis Kahn devoted his life to his work because his goals were only thing that drove him to attain his happiness.

Nathaniel was taught a valuable lesson by his father's mistakes in love being that happiness resides in the heart being close to God and family and not in the pursuit of material goals. His father sacrificed family but learned he was wrong. Happiness is spiritual and not material. Attainment of goals in order to achieve happiness is a common fallacy taught by society and is wrong. Thank God, I learned that hard lesson when I was 21 years old. I always have happiness in my heart because I believe in God and pray daily for His Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we connect to God and thus attain Eternal Happiness in our hearts. This is real happiness and does not fade.