The Fountainhead directed by King Vidor, was a fascinating film that offered a new and unique style of cinematography to me. Because of its debut in 1949, it is by far the oldest movie I have ever seen. However, I actually enjoyed it despite the age due to the completely different culture styles within society that were displayed during that time. Based on the book by Ayn Rand, it is centered around an architect named Howard Roark, and his constant struggle against factors within society. The story of Roark throughout the film intrigued me, as he seemed to be very different from his peers in several aspects. For one, he seemed to go against the grain on the advancements within society. He could be viewed as a modernist, and rejected some traditional techniques and values, even with his work. Roark was consistently in scenarios where his opinions and personality were drastically in contrast with other people.
Although many people could easily dislike the character of Howard Roark, I actually found his differences to be very interesting. Roark can be viewed as a man with an ego the size of the Empire State Building (especially since it takes place in New York City), and is very self centered. While I recognize these traits can be perceived as negative, I also believe Roark is just extremely fixated on his work, and believes the less distractions available with people, the better. Relating to what I said earlier, Roark could be considered a modernist, and displayed that in his work. While many artists and architects were using the traditional method when it came to their art, Roark's crafts could be described as chaotic, unbalanced, and extremely unorthodox. There were many times I noticed that Roark refused to show any emotion, and resorted to being stone-faced. I was not able to figure out if this was intended to be a tactic he would incorporate into business, or was just a part of his personality.
As we have progressed over the semester in this course a common theme we keep coming back to is the importance of value to the customer. An entrepreneur wouldn’t be successful if they didn’t adapt to the specifications and needs of their consumers, especially in the early stages of their development. While Howard Roark appears to already be successful, he somewhat refutes this idea, and tries to battle it. Roark refuses to change his architectural designs despite any dissension and trouble he may face. He truly is a “one man show” in his own mind, and will never bow to someone, or make changes for their liking. In the same aspect though, Roark can also be viewed as a man who pushed for innovation. We all know that the way society and business advance is through innovation from entrepreneurs, and I believe that was his central focus. I said earlier that Roark likes to go against the grain, and that is accurate in both his personality, and work. Where some people may see an ugly, unorthodox piece of architecture, Howard Roark’s creativity envisioned something they couldn’t even comprehend. Although some people may dislike the character of Howard Roark within the movie, I think you have to respect him regardless due to his self confidence in his skills, and straightforward honesty.
