documentary in which son and daughter seek to understand a parent and and by the process and their own life be not that uncommon . also not uncommon be result that reflect lack of talent and a failure of introspection and an abundance of narcissism and and perhaps and an unsubtle quest for publicly splash revenge for countless past hurt and real and fantasize . what be unusual be a brilliant and fair and engross portrait of a fascinating parent and my architect represent a son journey be that rare achievement . louis kahn emigrate to this country a a child and his face irreparably and brutally scar by an accident . he and his parent settle in philadelphia where the talented youngster love art and music . soon he become enamored of building and decide only an architect career would answer his creative ability . kahn become an architect but a this film show it take a long time before he attract the attention of the leader in his field . one architect suggest that he be a victim of the yellow armband and that anti semitism that along with bias against woman be long a disreputable aspect of the american profession of architecture . when he do achieve notice and he be see and clearly accurately and a a self assure and workaholic prophet exclaim unyielding demand that his vision and only his vision be realize . that inflexibility be the reason that while he draw wonderful plan for many building he build but a few . the interview with an age gentleman who fire kahn in philadelphia because of his unacceptable dream of a transformed urban center where people leave their car on the perimeter and walk into the city be hilarious . kahn be a born teacher and some of the extensive archival footage here show him with student and his voice steady but passionate and their gaze respectful and intense . many architect be interview by director and writer and project honcho nathaniel kahn and the architect only son . some be world famous i. m. pei and robert a. m. stone and moshe safdie and frank gehry and the still active nonagenarian and philip johnson . their comment paint a vivid picture of this idealistic but in the end financially unsuccessful designer of building that blend the castle and fortress and grand building of past century into design for the present . kahn building be show and among the most impressive be the salk research laboratory in la jolla and ca . to me his style have a neo romantic air deaden by too much blank space that repel rather than attracts human interaction . but kahn son be after more than the story of his father and the architect . for many year louis kahn have three family represent a wife with whom he have a daughter and two long term relationship and one of which produce a daughter and the other the son . kahn visit his son at the mother home often but at the end of an evening mother and son would drive kahn back to the marital home . nathaniel clearly want to know about this unusual set of relationship but he doesn not appear to be scar by what be certainly a strange affair for a little boy . when nathaniel be a young boy louis kahn die of a massive heart attack in the men room of new york pennsylvania station after return from india where he have pitch one of his massive project and another one that be never build . at that point his philadelphia firm be at least $ 500 and 000 in debt and have he live a trip to the federal bankruptcy court be probably in the offing . kahn leave several monumental structure of which the government building in bangladesh be clearly the big . a teary local architect hail kahn for have create a building where democracy may ( and hopefully will ) flourish . fellow architect moshe safdie opine that there might have be something fit in kahn suffer a mortal heart attack in a train station give his incessant globetrotting . i disagree represent it sadly ironic that kahn should die in the faceless replacement for one of america true architectural gem and the old pennsylvania station and wreck to make way for a sterile replacement with no character and no continuation of civic memory . there be a number of emotional moment film during the young kahn journey and include with his half sister and his mother and but theyre genuine and moving and not maudlin and stag . historian of architecture will always study kahn . his son find reason to remember him a a flawed but very iconoclastic and ultimately private man . positive .