"It's the people, not the politics." Although the works--the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Civil Rights Memorial, among others--starkly portray the true spoils of war, whether foreign or domestic, architect Maya Lin's "strong clear vision" embodied in these works is a hyper-personalized tribute to "the people." Her simple, yet eloquent, memorials invite not the traditional stand-in-awe-and-admire response, but rather a tactile engagement: visitors' fingers trace the names of the fallen carved on national elegies. An Oscar winner for Best Documentary in 1995, writer/director Freida Lee Mock's chronicle of Maya Lin's work effectively captures the extraordinary aspects of Lin's career: submitting the winning design as a college student for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the 20-year-old Lin's introduction into the world of public sculpture/architecture was literally a baptism by fire, as she found not only her ideas, but her heritage under vicious attack. Undeterred, Maya Lin went on to create one of the most famous pieces of architecture in the world. The instantaneously famous architect would go on to create many more works, and the cameras follow the artist quietly building a decade's worth of projects, but none would cause anywhere near the controversy engendered by her maiden effort. And--from a narrative standpoint--that's one of the minor problems of the film: the dramatic action falls off after the first half hour; a second is that Lin herself (whom we learn very little about personally) tends to go on at length about design tidbits that might put an architect in drool mode, but don't really engage the general viewer. Still, these are minor quibbles: Mock's film is a great portrait of the artist which also serves as an inspiration for aspiring...well...all of us, really. Regardless of our calling, that "strong clear vision" is what we seek to achieve in our work and lives. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
(1994) 98 min. $295. American Film Foundation. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 11, Issue 5
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
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