Design For Living

In Thom Andersen's often mentioned (on this blog) film-essay Los Angeles Plays Itself, there is a sequence discussing Hollywood's tendency to associate modern architecture with evil. This sequence always stuck with me. I'd never really given much thought to the subconscious effect the choice of venue has on an audience. Then last year I read this L.A. Times article which points out director Terrence Malick's use of modern architecture in The Tree of Life as a metaphor for alienation. Modern architecture just can't seem to catch a break. Or can it?

Thanks in part to Wes Anderson's early collaborations with designers David and Sandy Wasco, as well as the popularity of sites like Apartment Therapy, the current generation has become increasingly more design savvy. Terms like "mid-century modern" and "Eames era" are thrown around with great regularity. One need look no further than the recent films (500) Days of Summer and Beginners to see evidence of this. The latter film even saw fit to make the cold, sterile home of the villainous Pierce Patchett from L.A. Confidential, into a warm loving environment where real people actually live. Thesis, meet antithesis. But is this the end of the story?

Check out any message board regarding Anderson's newest film Moonrise Kingdom and you will see that there is currently a war on "quirk" where production design seems to be a key battleground. Here you will find people railing against, "lifeless props populating meticulously constructed dioramas which were designed to be admired from the outside". True there are films that get carried away with design for design's sake, but what if the filmmaker is trying to tell a story about someone who is attempting to present a composed exterior while underneath they are seething with anger and regret?

And in the end, that's really the only question anyone should be concerned with: Does the setting fit the story? Of course the fabulously wealthy evil billionaire is going to live in the Chemosphere, it makes no sense for a fabulously wealthy evil billionaire to be living in a Craftsman style home...unless it does! Wouldn't you love to see that movie? I would! Perhaps it's time for us to all just put aside our preconceptions, and let the best location win. That might be nice.