"In 1983, Von Spreckelsen was the unexpected winner of an international competition to design the statement building for the French capital's western business district. He's such an obscure name that the embassy in Denmark doesn't even know who he is, leaving President Mitterrand's adviser Jean-Louis Subilon to track him down while he's fishing in a Danish lake."
"Summoned to France, this purist refuses to deviate from the perfect dimensions of his Cube, seeing it as the culmination of his life's work. But he's immediately caught between the pernickety caprices of the premier and the cost-cutting wiles of the technocrat Subilon."
"Even backed in his politicking by his wife, Liv, Von Spreckelsen starts to cave in to paranoia and rage in the face of the interference. While it is exact on the construction process, The Great Arch is less so on the man."
The Great Arch tells the story of Danish architect Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, who unexpectedly wins an international competition in 1983 to design a statement building for Paris's western business district. Viewing his cube design as his life's culmination, Von Spreckelsen refuses to compromise on its perfect dimensions. However, he becomes trapped between the premier's demands and technocrat Jean-Louis Subilon's cost-cutting measures. Working with site manager Paul Andreu, Von Spreckelsen battles over design elements including the glass facade, suspended cloud form, and Carrara marble. Despite his wife's support and political maneuvering, Von Spreckelsen descends into paranoia and rage as interference mounts. Rather than celebrating a cultural triumph, the film documents the architect's spiritual crushing through compromises and perceived betrayals during the construction process.
#architecture-and-design #french-cinema #biographical-drama #creative-compromise #institutional-conflict
Read at www.theguardian.com
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