Curiously, there's also no motion picture footage of Mies himself, although his daughter produced her own film about him in the late 1960s for the Knoll corporation, which manufactures his furniture designs. Or audio, even though he was interviewed by the BBC in the late 1950s.
Those are problems with Regular or Super, but not as big of one as the gas station framing device. Mies's story is the story of 20th century modern architecture in America, its rise in prominence after World War II, and its decline, which began in part, as a backlash against Mies's austere minimalism, and only accelerated after his death. (That his acolytes such as Johnson built many inferior buildings didn't help matters, either.) There's a great story here, but you have to fight the filmmakers to get to it.
"I don't want it to be interesting; I want it to be good!" Mies has been quoted as saying. Too bad the filmmakers sacrificed the latter and decided to get cute, instead of spending more time fleshing out the story.
Those who want the story of Mies told conventionally are advised to pick up his mid-1980s biography written by Franz Schulze. It's still the best single book written about the architect. But second only to seeing the buildings in person, is watching them beautifully filmed in Regular Or Super. Whatever its faults, the handsome cinematography is not one of them.
Article comments
1 - Rodney Welch
Ed, you're the best. Great article; interesting and informative all the way through. You know your subject and you've done your homework. I'll look for the documentary.
Have you ever read Daniel Boorstin's The Creators? Pretty good general guide through Western art and culture, I thought; a good crash course in a great deal. It has an interesting section in it on architecture, Louis Sullivan in particular. It may not tell you anything you don't know, but you might enjoy it.
2 - Huh?
"In 1946, [Herb Greenwald] was a 29-year-old former rabbinical scholar who had wanted to break into the burgeoning post-war real estate boom, and was looking for a top-flight architect to be associated with his projects. To his surprise, he discovered one of the best, living and teaching in Chicago." Yes, because Chicago is a backwater, *especially* in terms of its architecture . . . .
3 - marac
Ed. I feel you are a little too tough on the makers of this documentary. I love the opening snowy Esso scene. I wasn't expecting this..It's a surprise..a nice hook. And as you mite know..most great docs open with a something to grab the viewers attention.
By the end of the film, after learning so much about Mies and his work from others, we discover the brilliance behind the design of the gas station. How many gas statons fall under that category? I learn that with imagination even the bland gas station can add something positive to our architectural landscape. We can do so much better when designing any building...and the Esso station in Quebec proves that.
The rest of the documentary features wonderful interviews with the subjects given some nice backdrops. The photography here surely must have been nominated for awards as the buildings are as beautifully shot as I have seen. The filmmaker also makes wonderful use of the cool jazz music throughout this doc.
I mite agree that some footage of Mies could have been used. However, I'm not sure this doc suffered for lack of Mies footage. I mite have added some grainy b and w footage of Meis superimposed over some of his glass towers..for a neat effect..I'm sure the editor would have loved playing with something like that.
That's a minor quibble. If I were to find any critism of this piece is that there really isn't a journey here....However, somehow this filmmaker pulls off a delightful piece. And kudos to the person who came up with the catch title of 'Regular or Super.' Bravo!