Sketches of Frank Gehry on general release from 29th June
For those of you that missed the special viewing of this film at the Tyneside Cinema for the launch of Architecture Week in the North East, don’t despair! It goes on general release on the 29th June for all to see.
The Tyneside cinema in Gateshead will be showing it again at a later date (keep an eye on their website) or you can check out where else is showing it, or just get more information about it, at the official site www.timesonline.co.uk/frankgehry
There are also details here of other events in Architecture Week relating to the release of this film, and a competition to win a Frank Ghery designed stool.
Sketches of Frank Ghery
Dir. Sydney Pollack
USA / 2005 / Colour / 83 Mins / 1:1.85 / Dolby SRD
Frank Gehry and Sydney Pollack are two of the best-known names in their respective fields of architecture and filmmaking, and as it turns out, they are also good friends. In his first documentary, Sydney Pollack, turns his camera on one of the most intriguing and popular architects of our time, Frank Gehry. Pollack doesn't pretend to understand architecture, he just knows what he likes, like the rest of us laymen. In an effort to better understand Gehry's architecture, the legendary director delves into his friend's childhood and passions, even talking to his 94-year-old therapist.
With Pollack, we discover the creative inspiration behind the architect's bold ideas, many of which have changed the shape of modern buildings. We also begin to understand how those strong curves in Gehry's mind become structures, and how computers and technology have changed his ability to translate what he sees in his mind into swirling, structural icons like The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
The two men clearly share a deep and fruitful friendship founded on love and respect. Gehry states that Pollack taught him how to carve out a sliver in the commercial world in which to create his work. The architect is fully at ease in front of his friend's camera, as are the myriad of artists, architects, and clients that Pollack interviews, including Barry Diller, Sir Bob Geldof, Philip Johnson, Thomas Krens, Herbert Muschamp, Michael Ovitz, and Julian Schnabel. Pollack has created an affectionate portrait of a man who dared to take architecture out of the bounds of the linear thinking that has defined so much of his field. In the process, he shows us a man who is delightful and captivating.
“Frank Gehry has got his own original, and, sort of perverse way of doing things. We’ve been friends for several years. And we’ve spent a lot of time together bemoaning the difficulties of trying to find personal expressiveness within disciplines that make stringent commercial demands.
Several people approached him with the idea of making a documentary about him. When he asked me if I’d do it, I thought he was crazy. It’s not just that I didn’t know anything about making documentaries, I didn’t even know anything about architecture.
That’s why you’re perfect, he said.” Sydney Pollack May, 2006
8th June 2007
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