Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Schulman is the too precious title of Eric Brickers  very easy to watch 2009 documentary about famed photographer Julius Shulman who championed many Modernist Los Angeles architects and even got Frank Gehry his first two clients.

Shulman who was 93 years old when most of the documentary was shot (in 2004) took masterfully composed photos of several designer homes for a wide variety of magazines—often making the homes, the style, and the architect famous in the process.  His big break came in 1936 when famed Modernist Architect Richard Neutra had Shulman document his creations on film.  He got to photograph the work of  Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe and many others.  Soon he became a sort of taste-maker catapulting the work of several architects nationwide with his photographs.

Just about everyone we meet in this documentary (narrated by Dustin Hoffman) loves Shulman even those acknowledging that he is very opinionated and sometimes stubborn.  Schulman (who loves his job) is seen, still working, taking pictures on the verge of turning 94 years old.  We see many of his photographs, learn how he stumbled about in his 20s not sure what he wanted to do until after 7 years at University of California he dropped out without a degree and concentrated on taking pictures of Los Angeles.

We meet his daughter and other family members, several people who own famous houses he photographed, a few still living architects and some sons and daughters of famed architects Schulman worked with in his 60 plus year career.  Actress Kelly Lynch and screenwriter/producer Mitch Glazer live in a house made famous by Schulman photographs several years ago (and give us a brief tour), and we meet a few home owners who spent several years restoring famous properties or are in the process of restoring them.

We go with Schulman as he photographs Gehry’s designed Disney’s Center for the Performing Arts, and we also see him in the overgrown gardens of his Hollywood Hills property that he enjoys walking around in.

The documentary gives us a brief overview of the Modernism movement in architecture that began in the 1920s and how it was embraced by several architects who built several houses in Los Angeles and Palm Springs including Neutra.   This is done on the level of well-produced PBS type program and is easy to understand for non-Architect students (like myself).  (Well I should say mostly.. there’s a brief hyper-paced three minute explanation that throws a whole bunch of information too fast at you—but then we’re back to the rather leisurely paced rest of the documentary).

Several interviews are conducted at the site of some of Shulman’s most famous photographs, so we get to see several properties 50 years in the past and also in the present.   A lot of the discussion is about valuing the designs of Modernist architects and it is Schulman photographs that made several houses, designs and architects famous.  After all, far fewer people will tour a famous house or get to live in one than the amount of people who will see a beautifully composed photograph of a house in a magazine.  In fact, the lifestyle and image and Los Angeles seems to have been captured by several Schulman photographs from the 1960s.  Schulman goes on record as detesting the Post-Modernist movement that put the Modernists out of style in most of the 80s and 90s and was very happy that after several years out of fashion, the Modernist style is once again appreciated and revered.   In fact his photographs are highly valued as a chronicle of Los Angeles architecture from the late 30’s to the present time.

We see lots of flat roofed Southern California  desert homes and several Hollywood Hills houses that seem precariously balanced or are built into the hillsides.  Schulman is also seen in archive T.V. talk show footage arguing for environmentally sound building practices and debating with an Irvine Company executive who was building tract home developments. 

Shulman who died in 2009 at age 98,  but is seen mostly around his 94 th birthday in the ‘present day’ footage of the documentary is an appealing charismatic man with a good sense of humor.  He’s not humble but is gracious for the attention he receives from various people. 

I watched the 84 minute as a Netflix Streaming movie but the DVD does include a director’s commentary and about 20 minutes of additional and deleted footage.

BOTTOM LINE


In spite of overly academic sounding title, I enjoyed learning about Shulman, his work, looking at many interesting beautiful pictures, and the footage of unique houses  in the documentary  Visual Acoustics The Modernism of Julius Shulman.  It was enjoyable to look in on the celebration and appreciation of Shulman’s life work.   3 ½ stars raised to 4.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV