Reviewing the world of Howard Roark is tricky. I certainly found it so when I wrote my Reputations piece on him for the AR (December 2013- just go to the AR website to download).
This film is undoubtedly melodramatic propaganda, but we also sense a few home truths. After all Goebbels understood that the best propaganda is that which you do not register as propaganda. Whilst the word 'integrity' is spat out at all too regular intervals throughout this film, integrity is still something we all respect and we feel guilty if we do not appreciate it.
It is certainly the case that Ayn Rand pushes herself to extremes; is it all hopelessly overblown? Most of us understand that co-operation and altruism are the route to an even partially successful private life, not obsessive selfhood. But of course I might be wrong; we should certainly not underestimate Rand and her importance in the mythology of the USA.
However the female lead, Domenique (modelled on Rand herself 'in a bad mood') behaves in most peculiar way and gives the most startling looks. Meanwhile her menage with Howard and Gail features one of the stranger 'bromances' (where only one of them can come out top dog and the other has to shoot himself- it's humanity like high stakes poker). Worst we get no clue as to why Roark's architecture is any good in the first place, other than for it's 'integrity' (based on Louis Sullivan aka Cameron). However this is not how it looks, it looks, instead, rather funky. But you can put that down to the rookie set designer.
As to blowing up such a servicable facility because it offends the so called author; that's a field day for all critics of 'the genius myth'.
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