How’s this for a synopsis of the best real estate movie ever made:
An idealistic architect battles corrupt business interests and his love for a married woman.
So little argue against, so much to dispute…
Nevermind. The Fountainhead is on Turner Classic Movies tomorrow night at 5 pm MST (YTZMV (your time-zone may vary)). That’s a poor time of day for watching TV, so you might wait for the DVD version, to be released November 7th.
Or just forget the whole movie, which is flawed by creepy performances and even creepier architecture, a huge betrayal of the Sullivan/Wright modernism the film intends to celebrate. Snag the book
Plus which, movie or book, how many works of art are so thoroughly about the real estate business?
Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing
Jeff Brown says:
I couldn’t agree with you more. Any Rand was one of the most concise and devastatingly truthful writers of the 20th century. Once you’ve read The Fountainhead, you will want to read Atlas Shrugged which was a result of the public’s positive uproar over Fountainhead. They insisted she write a book specifically based upon her philosophy.
It was required reading for my kids, (my son actually read it twice) which has resulted in their clear understanding of what really matters.
There are several passages in Atlas that will have you cheering, screaming in outrage, or laughing out loud, even if you’re reading alone in the den. It’s simply the best book I’ve ever read, and its lessons are illustrated in current events today.
October 3, 2006 — 9:25 am
Reuben Moore says:
I found The Fountainhead to be a bit convoluted. Although, decades after publication, it worked extremely well in the context of political correctness of the late ’80s and early ’90s.
For my money, the great American novel is Rand’s other seminal work, Atlas Shrugged. Even for it’s detractors, the novel surely includes the greatest femle protagonist in the history of American literature.
October 3, 2006 — 9:30 am
Greg Swann says:
Since we’re so completely into a Casual Friday topic on a Tuesday, let me send you hither: Grab the Michael Meyer translations of Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder, An Enemy of the People, Hedda Gabler and The Wild Duck. The Fountainhead can be read as an encomium to Ibsen, and Rand makes this obvious if not explicit in Ike’s play, a comedic take on The Wild Duck. Interestingly, while dining with Keating and Dominque, Ellsworth Toohey actually discloses the underlying architecture of the book, which I think is a nice turn. Ayn Rand understood the pure mechanics of English literature better than anyone since Shakespeare, and it can be a lot of fun to watch her play when she thinks no one is watching.
October 3, 2006 — 9:44 am