Filmmaker Virpi Suutari’s film Aalto is a striking and somber look into one of modern architecture’s giants, Alvar Aalto. The film is deliberately titled, as it spends a good chunk of time discussing how Alvar’s two wives Aino and Elissa Aalto impacted his work.
The film uses home movies, photo albums and letters written between Alvar and his first wife Aino. Aino also served as managing director of their furniture company Artek from 1941-1949, and was an architect herself. The film serves as an exploration not only of Alvar’s life works but both of his marriages. After Aino’s death in 1952, he married Elissa, and remained with her until his death 24 years later.
The juxtaposition of Suutari’s visits to Aalto’s buildings (including the Paimio sanitarium in the artist’s native Finland and his magnificent church in Riola, Italy) with details of both of his marriages help move the narrative along. A building and a marriage both require hard work, and the documentary leaves it open to the viewer whether Alvar was more dedicated to his buildings or his wives. Special attention is given to his various trysts, as well as his prolific drinking. The film also spends ample time about the architect’s obsession with design minutia. Fans of architecture may be left wanting more about his creative process, yet Aalto paints a picture of a man devoted to his buildings, as well as his wives.