Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To the glory of man!, 20 Jan 2003
Ayn Rand's masterpiece novel loses none of its plot and pace in this, somewhat shorter, film production. The theme of the film is: the individual verses the collective. And the individual, in this case played by Gary Cooper in the form of Howard Roark, is brilliantly portrayed through a sense of self-belief, determination and sheer ability. His ideological opposite, Elsworthy Toohey, is also well acted and personifies the evil collectivist who renounces all individual achievements and believes that men should act as their brother's keepers. Then there are in-between characters too - those of mixed premises - such as Gail Wynand and Dominique Francon. All of these dramatic individuals play their part in a compelling and well thought through story.Perhaps one of the most impressive (although unsurprising given the author) facets of the film is that it actually has an underlying message: it's not merely a concoction of disjointed and pointless scenes. The climax and meaning to the whole story can be found in Roark's own testimony at his court case: his statement and explanation that man exists for his own sake, not for the sake of others. This is definitely a film for those who believe in the hero of man the creator, though it will, almost certainly, be too close for comfort for the collectivist crowd!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Deliciously dotty!, 7 Nov 2007
This has to be, by any measure, one of the most spectacularly bizarre films ever made based, of course, upon one of the dottiest books! With the character of Howard Roark, Rand personified her own unique `objectivist' philosophy and Vidor put it on the screen in the form of Gary Cooper who enunciates his lines even more robotically than usual rather as if he can't quite believe what he is being required to say! The script, penned by Rand herself, requires that almost every character deliver their lines as if each were their last and most heroic utterance! The symbolism, too, is hardly subtle. For example, in one scene the heroine, Dominique Francon, played by Patricia Neal, beautiful but hard, frigid and sanctimonious, first encounters Roark while he chooses to work as a day labourer in her father's quarry rather than prostitute his architectural `genius' in the pursuit of wealth and acclaim. She stands looking down on this `tall, gaunt' man piercing the hard, rigid rock façade with a large drill that he holds tightly as if it were an extension of his arm. Naturally, the rock crumbles under the force of this penetration! We then see her later, obsessed by this image, breaking the marble fireplace in her bedroom as a pretext to get Roark to come to her. Needless, to say the course of this true love just wasn't meant to run smoothly and Roark deserts Dominique in order to return to New York in response to a request from a wealthy, and obviously discerning, patron to design and build an apartment block. It is here, on the opening night of the controversial building, that the two are temporarily reunited.
The other central character Gail Wynand, who employs Dominique as a columnist on his paper `The Banner' - a kind of 1940's The Sun - shares many of Roark's characteristics although, ironically, his immense wealth is based upon pandering to the bigotry of the masses rather than standing alone and apart from the crowd as Roark chooses to do. It is Roark's integrity that ultimately wins Wynand, played by Raymond Massey, over and the two men, recognizing a mutual kinship, become almost inseparable friends, much to the vexation and bewilderment of Dominique who, by now, is Wynand's wife. Thus there ensues a curious, almost, troilistic relationship in which the female plays the role of the observer. In this respect Roark's treatment of Dominique might be viewed as somewhat sadistic.
Ultimately it is the patent absurdity of the script and the `heroic' style of acting that combine to produce a deliciously weird and compelling concoction that, because of these very qualities, one never tires of viewing.
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12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoy this movie for what it is, ain't gonna get no better., 16 Jan 2003
I had to search my thoughts to see if I was even going to review this film of which I bought a copy. You can argue film versus book until the cows come home. You could say "lets make this with Helen Mirren and Mel Gibson." You can have Turner colonize it. Well folks, it is not going to happen; so do not waste your time wishing, and look at this movie. An other reviewer quite correctly summed it up as a pretty faithful summary (as opposed to adaptation). In that you get the essence of the book with a few saved speeches. All the actors get their point over to you. This includes Gary Cooper as Howard Roark and Patricia Neal as Dominique. The scenes portray the story very well. The Frank Lloyd Wright architecture adds to the time period. The tone of the movie gives the impression that this was copied from a stage play where one person at a time talks and no one overlaps until the first person is finished. All in all, the entire movie is worth the viewing. It is also worth keeping a copy to see what this review missed.
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