Customer Reviews

Le Corbusier [VHS]

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The video was helpful in putting Le Corbusier's life into short, historically categorized segments--I learned a fair amount which I had not read before; however, these relatively short segments (the entire program is about 45 min.) are difficult to endure--the music is awful. Think Friday the 13th meets the Mozart that never could. Midway through I shut-off the sound, put on my headphones to good music and watched the architecture on screen. Admittedly, I was disappointed to find no discussion of Le Corbusier's furniture (which is the reason why I ordered the DVD in the first place). A few brief image shots of 3 pieces of his furniture were shown, not discussed. This DVD was a quick introduction into the person and intentions that defined Le Corbusier as the revolutionary designer/thinker that he was--a video that would be shown in Architecture 101. Also, my video's quality was rather poor--could have been because I was sent a pirated, home-computer generated, albeit scratched CD-R. Not at all what I expected.

This video is most certainly before its time, with a disturbing futurist soundtrack done by Iannis Xenakis, an Architect who worked in Corbusier's office and who went on to do only aural architecture. The intricacy of the soundtrack matches to Corbusiers' at times seemingly martian language. I respectfully disagree with the other critics and highly recommend this film to students and professionals alike.

This is a good overview of the architect's works, however, I felt that the electronic music was a little too dramatic for the shots that were being shown. Sometimes the sound effects made it seem like the building was about to fall down.

Overall, it was a strange experience.

The awful, surreal, music and dark black and white photography in much of the film made it seem like a horror movie instead of a documentary on one of the most influential architects of modern times. It was just plain disturbing.