Cathedrals of Culture

In 2010, Wim Wenders made the 3D short If Buildings Could Talk, surveying the Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, from many angles while a narrator spoke in the voice of the structure itself. Wenders employs the same tactic in this anthology feature, with the initial episode here being his own portrait of the postwar hall built for the Berlin Philharmonic, in which shots examining the architecture and background information about its design are juxtaposed with others showing the orchestra rehearsing and the staff working, all accompanied by the hall's own recitations. Wenders's chapter is followed by Michael Glawogger's on the National Library of Russia, which prowls about the stacks while a disembodied voice talks about the surrounding cultural treasury. Margreth Olin's piece on the Oslo Opera House muses (like Wenders's) on how these cathedrals of culture can have a transformative effect not only on their users but also on their neighborhoods. Karim Aïnouz's segment on the Pompidou Centre in Paris emphasizes the edifice's dizzying array of exhibits and functions. The two contributions that deviate somewhat from the pattern are Robert Redford's portrait of California's Salk Institute, serving up a more conventional combination of archival material and appreciative architectural shots, and Michael Madsen's take on Norway's Halden Prison, which is designed to provide more humane treatment of prisoners but doesn't always achieve that goal. Cathedrals of Culture loses the impact of its original 3D format on this standard DVD, but it nevertheless represents an imaginative attempt to convey the deeper purposes behind major architectural works. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)