[.ca] Lin, Maya: A Strong Clear Visio

From Amazon.com:
It was for good reason this film won the 1995 Academy Award for Best Documentary, as it displays, in abundance, the emotional human responses Maya Lin elicits with her architectural designs and sculpture. There was much controversy surrounding her Vietnam War Memorial, not the least of which focused on her Chinese-American origins. Writer/director Freida Lee Mock uses conventional methods (interviews, archival footage) to follow Lin's career in chronological order. It examines her work since winning the contest in which her student model was chosen for the infamous Washington war memorial. The stark emotion evoked by Lin's sensuous and kinetic creations promises to bring tears to your eyes. Unfortunately, we learn more about her work than about the artist, whose personality is oddly absent from this film. Mock only somewhat reveals the intense focus and powerful vision that drives Lin. --Rochelle O'Gorman

poetry of the design process:
This documentary film is a unique experience for which it is difficult to find a comparison. On a basic level, the film discusses several projects of artist/architect Maya Lin, a young Chinese-American woman who unexpectedly won the design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial while a Yale student. Her design, a departure from conventional expectations, is now famous, and is the most visited memorial in Washington D.C. Some of the strong feelings that the Vietnam War elicits in people, especially its veterans, is touched upon in moving live scenes at the Memorial and in the controversial hearings that were held in the wake of the design's selection. The experience put Maya Lin in a national spotlight and forced the student to mature very quickly addressing the grievances of veterans and others. In the end, with some minor site additions, the Memorial stood as designed, with the names of all the veterans of Vietnam etched in its simple polished, reflective granite. Other works of Maya Lin, including the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama; the Yale Women's Table; and others demonstrate a similar simplicity and poetry that is both moving and powerful. There are moments in the film, as simple as when the artist is working at her drafting table, that suggest something both beautiful and spiritual, providing a deep insight into the creative process of this noted public artist.

Evocative!!:
Maya Lin is a great designer, and this respectful film shows us her well mannered approach to art and architecture. I'll especially note her tactile abilities in her work process, and her perfection and concerns for the built environment in this film. This DVD of Miss Lin is a down to earth inspiration to a self starting person like myself.

Maya Lin:
Narrative and Thematic Summary At the age of 20 and still a student at Yale University, Maya Lin won a national design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Mock recounts through interviews with Lin, the veterans who organized the memorial project and the complicated, politically messy process that led to erecting the famously moving piece. After much public protest (mainly from Vietnam War veterans), hearings were held to consider ways to incorporate more traditional images in the monument. Somehow, all the details were worked out. Throughout the entire controversy, Lin stood up to her critics with an intellectual integrity that ultimately aided in the persuasion of the construction of the monument. Lin's continued growth as an artist and as a human being is the real subject of this film. Mock shows Lin working on other soon-to-be famous designs such as her Civil Rights Memorial in Alabama, another large engraved stone piece. She also shows Lin visiting sites of other sculptures and buildings she would design. It is clear how strongly she relates to the earth and to the ground on which her structures will stand, and how directly her natural surroundings determine the direction of her work. Overall, the film is a fitting tribute to an artist who has had a wondrous career for someone so young, and has a long great career ahead. Technical Evaluation Cinematography The cinematography in "Maya Lin" is somewhat unadorned, as it is with most documentary films. It is more on a realistic level that is concerned with content rather than form or technique. Due to this realistic style, however, the film does a decent job in portraying the intense size of the Vietnam Memorial, the political symbolism of the documents against the Memorial and the artistic symbolism behind Lin's design drawings. It also does a good job in displaying what future generations will consist of and how they will be affected by segregation decisions of blacks in the Civil Rights movement. Another aspect of the film in which the cinematography comes into play would be the scenes where various documents and designs were scanned by the camera. Throughout the period of the film that involved the Vietnam Memorial controversy, there were numerous shots of various documents related to the issue. One notable document was the one that stated that there should be revisions to the existing design (such as using a white wall instead of black and having a statue if Vietnam soldiers included in the design), otherwise the Fine Arts Committee would stop all further progress in the implementation of the design. The official document that described the above statement was filmed from a high-angled close-up shot to make it look like we, the viewers, were the actual members of the Fine Arts Committee (or some other body) looking down at this document and trying to make a decision as to the continuation or termination of the design. The shot also focuses on certain words within the document (words that described the memorial as being a disgrace, etc) in order to symbolize that protestors did not understand the art of the design and were instead focusing more on political issues dealing with it. By focusing on these political issues within the shot, the film shows that there is somewhat of a "political smear" in the Fine Arts Committee in that the committee, as well as other protestors, would rather stress political issues (ie- using a white wall instead of black) instead of appreciating the design for what it truly was. Sound The sound in "Maya Lin" does a good job in displaying maturity levels, emotions, and symbolic meanings in terms of the Civil Rights movement. The levels of maturity, for example, are expressed in the different sounds and voices of the players. A good example of this concept would be the way Lin sounds in her younger years opposed to the way she sounds in her adult years. The scene where Lin was standing at the podium (when she found out that she had won the contest for the Vietnam Memorial) revealed her immaturity. At this point in her life she was an undergraduate student of about 22 years of age. Her constant giggling was a way of releasing tension and nervousness because she knew that she had beaten many other famous, well-known architects. Also, the fact that she still did not quite understand that she had won the contest displayed her immaturity. This first step of success for Lin was a certain clash with her success as a mature, successful artist that we see throughout the rest of the film. The mature, successful Maya Lin that we see in many interview clips (possibly ten years after she won the Vietnam Memorial contest) are due to the calm, confident sounds of her voice when she speaks. Her mature sounds present her as an intelligent individual who has learned a lot from her work over the years. Lastly, the music in "Maya Lin" does a decent job in portraying certain symbolic meanings. A notable scene that would support this concept would be the scene where the blacks saw the completed Civil Rights monument. As the black people (including Rosa Parks) walked toward the monument for the first time, the famous Civil Rights Movement Anthem played in the background. This anthem was titled "We Shall Overcome." This song did a great job in describing the endless efforts of the blacks for social equality. The words "we shall overcome" alone have powerful meaning in that the blacks would eventually overcome the social and economic oppressions against their race.

Interesting Look into the Life of an Artist:
I watched this documentary when I was a senior in college for a class. Maya Lin's creative process and the way she carries out her simple yet very meanful designs is intriguing. However, the documentary itself was somewhat flat and boring. Granted, I watched this documentary in a classroom setting where every movie shown can cause a college student to fall deep into the depths of sleep, but I still think the documentary could have been more interesting. I have watched documenatries about other artists, such as Chihuly, which were very captivating, but unfortunately this one was not. It's unfortunate because we all can learn so much from Maya Lin's creative processes. I would recommend this film to people interested in the creative process and learning about how a young undergraduate from Yale designed one of the United States most touching and celebrated memorials.

Eye-Opening:
Very interesting documentary about the artist who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Shocking to watch her have to endure racist slurs from people who were presumably fighting for freedom, equality, and democracy in this foreign conflict.