The Fountainhead
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Movie Reviews of The Fountainhead
Movie Review: The movie is about ideas not realism
Summary: 4 Stars
Realism isn't everything. Not every movie needs to be realistic. While the Fountainhead is not necessarily a classic movie, it does have its classic moments. The drill scene comes to mind. I do think that scene itself should merit a PG rating. Can you imagine, trying to answer a childs question such as, "Mommy, why is the woman looking at the man with the drill like that?" It does have several flaws which prevents me from giving it 5 stars such as Coop's speech at the end. Cooper himself thought it should have been reshot because he was rather stilted in his delivery of it. This, I do not blame on Cooper as, it seems to me, that any good director or producer should have realized that the scene needed some more work. All in all, Cooper was a great actor in the Naturalistic Manner.
Eveything about this movie is way over the top. It was meant to be that way. But you know what? It also makes you think. I can count on one hand, the movies that make you think and to me that gives it more merit than most movies made in the last 40 years.
To the critics who dislike the movie because it is unrealistic. Do these critics also think movies like Douglas Sirk's Written on the Wind are not any good? That's another movie with phallic symbolism in it. Methinks that the majority of the negative reviews regarding the film have more to do with the author's philosophy rather than the movie itself. Whatever, you may think,the movie is memorable and it also makes you think. Only good movies are both.
Movie Review: Selfism 101
Summary: 4 Stars
I almost can't help but come away from a viewing of The Fountainhead thinking this was a fine film for reasons other than its screenwriter and author, Ayn Rand, might have wanted it to be. Whereas the twentieth-century's most severe defender of a singular concept of self-interest and personal expression probably saw in her work a manifesto for the salvation of the creative caste in humanity's mostly wasted population, I liked The Fountainhead for the strength of its visual effects. If this means I "didn't get it" then so be it.
This is an impressive movie with sound performances filled with anger, arrogance, megalomania, and an intentional stoical woodenness that was extreme even for Gary Cooper. I liked the shots of buildings worked into existing cityscapes, and the trouble the makers of this motion picture went to to bring Rand's visions to the screen. What I didn't feel was a lot of affinity for Rand's message or for the occasional melodrama that was exhibited by nearly all. This production was often like Citizen Kane meets Brave New World. Some of my friends say Ayn Rand is the greatest writer and visionary the planet has ever produced. I am less generous in my evaluation of her, but I still don't hesitate to say this is a good movie, worth seeing, in no way a waste of time, just not the classic I was led to expect it would be.
Movie Review: Uncompromising Libertarianism
Summary: 4 Stars
I've never read Ayn Rand's source novel but I thoroughly enjoyed the film of "The Fountainhead". I think one has to put the film in perspective of it's time. I came out in the wake of what some perceived as the excesses of the New Deal and may have been a refreshing challenge to the accepted norms. Watching the film I can't help to think that it anticapated the philosophy of Barry Goldwater. Personally, I came of age under Ronald Reagan which I found to be a more satisfying compromise. That is to say the rights of the individual are respected but informed by Judeo-Christian values. Rand's uncompromising philosophy does not seem to be informed by a godliness. That's where I differ with in that I think one can be true to oneself withouting eschewing altruism. In a nutshell I respect this film without accepting all of the tenets it espouses. This had to be a difficult film to make because of it's philosophical nature. Director King Vidor pulls it off brilliantly working from a script by Rand and some stunning visual work. The entire cast is terrific with a towering performance by Gary Cooper as Rand's everyman(Superman?). Some would dismiss this film because of it's philosophy. I think one has to take a page from Howard Roark and agree to disagree but respect the right of the individual to express themself.Movie Review: Nicely done
Summary: 4 Stars
A nicely done movie that, a bit to my surprise, kept my three kids (ages 11, 14, 17) all entertained. I think the reason is that this movie is so plainly different from the current, bubblegum movies they see so often. Why not five stars, as I'm tempted to give?
First there's the fact that no one seems to smile in the whole film. Indulge me for a moment while I mention that I find this over-seriousness a recurring problem in Ayn Rand's work. It's a shame she never learned to lighten up a bit (or to appreciate the merits of well-placed charity, but I digress).
The second problem, which is hardly the fault of the movie, is that the modern style of architecture that seemed so cutting edge at the time has now been done to death -- to the point that the wonderful buildings that are supposed to be driving the story tend to leave the viewer wistful for classicism.
The third problem (WARNING - PLOT SPOILER) is that blowing up a building has a different flavor to it in these post-9/11 days than it did earlier.
These are serious flaws, but perhaps they mostly show how much I enjoyed the movie overall, given that I still rate it between 4 and 5 stars.
Movie Review: Bad movie/Great movie!
Summary: 4 Stars
Technically, this is one of the worst movies ever made. The acting is stilted, the music is predictable, and the set designs are pedantic. Gary Cooper hated his interpretation of the courtroom scene. Ayn fought tooth and nail with the studio heads to have it filmed exactly as she wrote it. Unfortunately she won. The heavy hand of novelist Ayn Rand's script is evident throughout. Fortunately, the theme of the story, a man's uncompromising individuality, more than makes up for the film's shortcomings. Throughout her life, Ayn, (pronounced eye-ann), Rand, influenced by her childhood experiences in communist Russia, campaigned for the rights of the individual over the collective. Her novel "The Fountainhead" was her crowning achievement in this direction. Although her ideas did not translate into film as well as they might have, her message comes through loud and clear. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone with a mind; but I would read the book first. Two of my favorite people are Nikola Tesla, and Howard Roark, both of them men of uncompromising integrity.