Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision

Released 1994
Directed by Freida Lee Mock 
Reviewed August 26, 2003

This Oscar winning documentary tells the story of Maya Lin, who was the architect behind the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. It's an interesting document of some of her work, but the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is the centerpiece. I found the whole story about the memorial fascinating, and I'm a little flabbergasted by its inception. Maya was a 20 year-old Yale architecture student when she learned of the contest, and her fellow students decided to make it an assignment in one of their classes. I didn't know there was such a thing as funereal architectural theory, but Maya used it along with her own ideas to create what has become arguably the most beloved memorial of our time. In the film she describes her intentions with choosing black for the color, sinking it below ground level, and the counter-intuitive but brilliant idea to list the names chronologically. It's amazing how well she understood the grieving process at such a young age.

It was one thing for her to have the vision for the memorial, but it was something else for the committee to select it. They received 1441 applications, and I'm afraid I would have pitched hers right away. It was so different from anything I would have imagined, and her water color pictures were so vague. It was her essay that explained her intentions, and the blue ribbon panel of experts showed why they're experts. I'm as impressed with the panel's ability to grasp Maya's design from the small package she submitted as I am with Maya herself. To know that was the winning design out of 1441 submissions is really quite amazing.

As far as the film itself is concerned, I'm surprised it won the Oscar for Best Documentary. It has an interesting subject and presents it in an interesting, albeit old-fashioned, manner, but it doesn't give us much insight into Maya Lin the person. Since it's about her and her work, I'd expect it to dig below the surface and examine the person, but it doesn't do that. She seems like a guarded person who holds her emotions close to herself, but a better director would have given us more. Even so, it's definitely worth watching.

Reviewed by Bill Alward
August 26, 2003
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