THE FOUNTAINHEAD (1949) Building Roarks of art

THE FOUNTAINHEAD is about a brilliant and fiercely independent, modern architect, Howard Roark (Gary Cooper), hell-bent on designing buildings his way or no way. To prove his resolve, he dynamites to dust a pet housing project because during construction while Roark is abroad, a committee makes ghastly changes in the design – “improvements,” they call them. This film has many lessons to teach, including the pros and cons of originality and the power of one’s values and determination. Sets, cinematography, dialogue, even the way the characters talk and posture themselves, are stylized often to the point of distraction - and the symbolism is so blatant as to make modern viewers wince, as in Roark's sensuous manipulation of his jack hammer when he first lays eyes on the woman he will woo, rape, lose, and much later wed, Dominique (Patricia Neal). Nonetheless, the film’s power persists.