My Father the Genius DVD Review

Professional and Personal Repercussions of Placing Art Before Commerce

It's fitting that this documentary opens with a quote from Ayn Rand's landmark novel, The Fountainhead, especially because the central subject is so closely similar to Rand's creation. Like Rand's character Howard Roark, Glen Small is an architect with a singular vision, completely devoted to pursuing his unique passion in spite of its direct opposition to the mainstream architecture of the day. He cares nothing about financial gain or impressing potential clients, he only longs to fulfill his innovative designs. That the documentary so closely captures his ambitions and failures is clearly aided by the long history he has with its director, his daughter.

The film bears unavoidable comparisons to the similar documentary, My Architect, but where that work was a reverential study of a famous architect by his mostly enraptured son, this film takes pains to show the negative impact Glen's passion had on his family relationships and career aspirations. Director Lucia Small also acts as narrator, describing her personal experiences with the distant father who was always more interested in his architecture than he was in his family. She also puts her father on the spot with pointed questions about his abandonment of her mother and sisters, and records completely candid confessions from her father in return. He recognizes that he made errors in his personal and professional relationships, but he really doesn't care, his only interest is pursuing his art.

The film also tracks the deconstruction of the traditional American family unit, introducing us to Glen's conservative first wife and sharing clean-cut family pictures that look like something out of Leave It To Beaver, then progressing through Glen's gradual removal from his family, adoption of hippie hair and clothes, and his subsequent mind-expanding architectural designs that bear the stamp of chemical assistance. He went on to marry again and start another family, before also leaving them behind to continue his artistic pursuits.