Product Details

• Directors: Scott Galloway
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• DVD Release Date: July 26, 2005
• Run Time: 45 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009K7RXO
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,899 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From Fallingwater to the Guggenheim Museum, Frank Lloyd Wright created some of the most celebrated designs in history. But his development as an architect is best seen in the three homes he built for himself. Freed from the wishes and demands of any client, they are the purest expressions of the talents and theories of the greatest architect of the 20th century.America's Castles follows the evolution of Wright's style from the balanced simplicity of Oak Park (1891) to the destruction of the traditional boundaries between inside and outside space of Taliesin West (1937). Go inside Taliesin (1911) in Spring Green Wisconsin--off limits to the public--to see what many scholars feel is the most beautiful of all Wright's domestic designs. And learn of the turmoil and tragedy that marked Wright's private life--including the horrific axe murder in Taliesin!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware the title, December 27, 2005

By	James Heitzer "Roscoe Domino" (Denver) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a show about the homes that Mr. Wright lived in - Oak Park, Taliesin and Taliesin West, not the homes that he built for others. Fallingwater and the Johnson house are mentioned in the biography, but not shown. I was disappointed at that.

With the scarcity of DVDs offered on Wright on Amazon, I would have hoped that this would have been an overview of his work. Instead, it concentrated on only three sites and did not attempt to put them into context with his other work.

I guess I cannot blame this on A & E. This was part of a series on American Castles and the subject was so small. It is the problem with TV shows that limit what can be said in the hour long (forty-four minutes, actually) format. Film and television can show views that books cannot. This show's problem is that it cannot please everyone (anyone?) because it is not specific to the pre-existing knowledge of its viewers.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy the presentation. It did not dwell on scandal or the sensational and stuck to its goal.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Three Homes of the Architect, December 8, 2007

By	Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This work does not concern the entire oeuvre of FLW. It's about the 3 homes he built for himself and his families (purposely plural). What I like about art documentaries is how they don't just discuss the subject of the work, but they talk about the materials, history, and tacit messages about it. Similarly, this work doesn't show a single blueprint. It speaks of the shape of the houses, but also the materials used, how the homes were expanded. They even mention chairs that FLW designed.

The work says FLW was influenced by the minimalism of Japanese architecture. As the Impressionists looked to Japan, so did he, but the work does not make that connection. In the middle of the work, the narrator states that FLW knew Georgia O'Keeffe personally. However, it never makes the connection that both would have one home in the Southwest and one home farther east. One interviewee stated that FLW tried to make an architecture specific to or relating to the Midwest. Many scholars have write about nationalism, how artists want to create things that describe their nation. I guess one could say FLW was dedicated to a regionalism. His Southwestern home reflected the environment of its particular place.

The work has male and female interviewees. A female student was interviewed, suggesting that his disciples were not only male. The work doesn't shy about from FLW's adultery. Near the end of the work, photos of shirtless, young men building FLW's last home were seen, and some may find the men and the photos erotic.