Product Details

• Actors: Maya Lin
• Directors: Freida Lee Mock
• Writers: Freida Lee Mock
• Producers: Freida Lee Mock, Jessica Yu, Terry Sanders
• Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: New Video Group
• DVD Release Date: May 27, 2003
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008PHD1
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,889 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Maya Lin - A Strong Clear Vision" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It was for good reason this film won the 1995 Academy Award for Best Documentary, as it displays, in abundance, the emotional human responses Maya Lin elicits with her architectural designs and sculpture. There was much controversy surrounding her Vietnam War Memorial, not the least of which focused on her Chinese-American origins. Writer/director Freida Lee Mock uses conventional methods (interviews, archival footage) to follow Lin's career in chronological order. It examines her work since winning the contest in which her student model was chosen for the infamous Washington war memorial. The stark emotion evoked by Lin's sensuous and kinetic creations promises to bring tears to your eyes. Unfortunately, we learn more about her work than about the artist, whose personality is oddly absent from this film. Mock only somewhat reveals the intense focus and powerful vision that drives Lin. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Product Description

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, this stirring film looks at the moving story of the 20-year-old Asian-American student whose winning design for Washington's Vietnam Veterans Memorial ignited a nationwide controversy. See how the simple black wall weathered protests to become one of the capital's most visited sites, and follow Lin's subsequent career and such later works as Montgomery, Alabama's Civil Rights Monument. 83 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo; biography; scene access.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars poetry of the design process May 22, 2004

By Stephen M. Long

Format:DVD

This documentary film is a unique experience for which it is difficult to find a comparison. On a basic level, the film discusses several projects of artist/architect Maya Lin, a young Chinese-American woman who unexpectedly won the design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial while a Yale student. Her design, a departure from conventional expectations, is now famous, and is the most visited memorial in Washington D.C. Some of the strong feelings that the Vietnam War elicits in people, especially its veterans, is touched upon in moving live scenes at the Memorial and in the controversial hearings that were held in the wake of the design's selection. The experience put Maya Lin in a national spotlight and forced the student to mature very quickly addressing the grievances of veterans and others. In the end, with some minor site additions, the Memorial stood as designed, with the names of all the soldiers who gave their lives in Vietnam etched in its simple, polished, reflective granite. Other works of Maya Lin, including the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama; the Yale Women's Table; and others demonstrate a similar simplicity and poetry that is both moving and powerful. There are moments in the film, as simple as when the artist is working at her drafting table, that suggest something both beautiful and spiritual, providing a deep insight into the creative process of this noted public artist.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Documentary on an Important Architect June 5, 2000

By Jeannie M. Zeck

Format:VHS Tape

This videotape is outstanding. Maya Lin was an architecture student at Yale when she won the anonymous competition to design and build the Viet Nam Veteran's Memorial in Washington D.C. The documentary chronicles the controversy over Lin's design and over her as an Asian-American female architect.

The domentary shows Lin facing the challenge of dealing with many angry veterans. The film reveals the racism and sexism that were pervasive in this controversy. Happily, Lin went on to build the memorial. Touching and painful scenes show hundreds of Viet Nam vets visiting the wall.

The film also chronicles other works of Lin including the Civil Rights monument in Alabama and the peace circle at Juniata College in Pennsylvania. This 90 minute documentary takes you into the mind of an intelligent, sensitve artist. I recommend it for high school and college classes dealing with race or gender issues, or any American history class. The film is also excellent viewing for anyone with personal interests in architecture.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful film about a real American Hero. November 8, 2004

By S. Granger VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

This film moved me. Maya Lin is incredibly gifted, articulate, and seems amazingly humble. The Vietnam Memorial, and the hardships of it's creation, show the young woman's strength. It's truely a feat worth the history books. The most striking thing I got out of this film though was the fact that it wasn't a fluke. The rest of her work is just as incredible, even if not as well known. I'm so glad that I saw this film. The DVD is well done, audio is good and the extras, while sparse, are enough. Everyone really should see this film about one of the great artists living in our time.