Customer Reviews

My Father the Genius

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Filmmaker Lucia Small has endured a difficult relationship with her father, architect Glen Howard Small. So, it surprised her when Glen asked if she would tell his life story. Lucia agreed and the result is the terrific, offbeat documentary "My Father, the Genius."

Glen knew from an early age that he wanted to be an architect - but not just any architect. He wanted to change the way we live by making our dwellings more ecologically friendly. Unfortunately, Glen's obsession with architecture left little room for family. He divorced Lucia's mother and was largely absent from the lives of their three daughters.

Glen Small's career got off to a roaring start by winning notoriety for his early designs and co-founding the Southern California Institute of Architecture. In the film, Small's ex-students laud him for his "hands on" approach to teaching. Along the way, he designed his magnum opus - the biomorphic biosphere.

Then things went bad. The "biomorphic biosphere" was never built. Small was fired from his faculty position. Several relationships crumbled. He attempted to start over by starting his own architecture firm, but he attracted few clients and his heart wasn't in it, anyway. At the time of the filming, Small was desperate for money.

My Father, the Genius explores Small's overarching ambitions and the twisted relationships that arose as a result. In a striking scene, the viewer sees a 1976 film of Small speaking during a meeting with other architects in which he makes brutal comments about the other attendees and their work. Small's three daughters all have negative feelings about his absence from their lives, but their father is less-than contrite, noting at one point that "families come and go." The viewer's heart breaks for Small's daughters. Also, the viewer begins to understand how he sabotaged a promising life.

The film is consistently interesting and the viewer is left with a lot to think about after it ends. I recommend My Father, the Genius.

I originally saw this documentary on the Sundance Channel. As a documentary, it works on two levels. It tells the story of an essentially unknown, but important, architect, whose work influenced a generation of young LA architects. It is also a poignant story of a complex father-daughter relationship, one that is made even more complex by the flights of a stubborn, idealist father who remains true to his lifelong creative obsession. Highly recommended.

This documentary film is truly a work of art. Unlike many documentaries that simply turn the camera on an interesting subject, Lucia Small works magic to bring creativity and personal interest to her story both in front of and behind the scenes to make the subject and this film so engaging. Telling the story of her father, she interweaves critique, engagement, surprise, frustration, and a sense of wonder at her father's continuing belief in himself as the true artist who has simply been misunderstood. Any daughter of any father growing up in the seventies will appreciate this!

This is an amazing movie... How rare that a talented filmmaker turns the camera on herself and her own roots to tell such a funny, yet heartbreaking story. This is an intimate, brave memoir - I think Lucia Small took a big chance documenting the history of her unusual, creative and oh-so-narcissistic father - it's an odd tribute to a man so reflective of his times (1960's and 70's) -- I wonder what he thought of it. A must-see for documentary fans, fans of truth or even just fans of family dysfunction!

This film was compelling a beautifully crafted exploration of one crazy man who is both more and less than he seems.
A must see for any film buff, architect or student of life.

A really great story about a father, from a daughter, providing insight into the mind of an eccentric genius that so many of us can identify with in some weird way or another. Very enjoyable ride with a lot of great humor. I wish my dad was like him,.. kinda!

A five-star rating for this outstanding documentary which poignantly examines the issues involved in balancing career aspirations with raising a family. A daughter, as only she can, tells the story of her father - an uncompromising, visionary, architect - who was so preoccupied with his role in changing the world through architecture that in the process compromised his role as a father. With feeling, honesty and humor, Lucia Small creatively weaves the needs and wishes of herself and her siblings with that of a father engrossed in a life long push toward architectural excellence. Despite his detachment as a father and his sometimes irascible, opinionated demeanor as an architect, one can't help but admire his immense talent, his let-it-all-hang-out honesty, and his disdain for mediocrity and shallowness. A beautifully constructed documentary which will strike you at all levels of feeling.

Lucia Small's personal docu is a heartbreaking and hilarious look into the hubris of her architect father (who comes across like a character in an Ayn Rand novel) and how he and his estranged daughter forge an unlikely bond. A prize-winner at Slamdance--not to be missed!!!

"My Father The Genius" represents a significantly humorous milestone to the tradition of "personal documentaries". For any child who comes from a divorced family situation that has in the background the looming figure of a genius parent, this film is a must. Ayn Rand's fans will enjoy it also.