STARDUST

THE STORY OF ROBERT VENTURI & DENISE SCOTT BROWN

Stardust: The Story of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown is an intimate portrait of two of the most influential architects of the last century. Filmed over a decade by their son, Jim Venturi, Stardust follows Bob and Denise in a (tragi-comic) road movie across continents, as they look back to the events and buildings that inspired a partnership and love affair of over half a century. Always holding hands- whether in their most famous building, the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London, or while watching British sitcoms, Bob and Denise share their secrets and loves. These brilliant innovators, ever out of step with the architectural establishment, revolutionized the practice of architecture through their buildings and writings. Venturi, raised by Italian parents, returns to Rome, the ‘Eternal City’ that profoundly affected him as an artist and led to the writing of Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture, a book that influenced generations of architects worldwide. This gem of a film, is a vibrant montage of early archival and colorful verité, showing how Bob and Denise, together, changed the course of architecture. Yet in a profession where the notion of lone genius is exalted, will Denise ever convince people that creativity really can exist in two minds together?

"Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown were to architecture what Jean-Luc Godard was to film: radical, kitchy, complex and very smart. They defined an era and inspired a movement. If you want to understand their directives – and feel the power of the 1960s  – see this film."

Michel Negroponte, Film Director  (Jupiter's Wife – Winner of Special Jury  Recognition at Sundance Film Festival)

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

When I joined my father, Robert Venturi, on his first trip to China in 2002, a journey that he had dreamed about since the age of fourteen (he was then 77), I brought a small video camera to record the trip. And this became the genesis of the film, Stardust: The Story of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. I was 31 at the time and had just finished running an IT company; I wanted to capture my parents while they were still alive. Because I was in IT, I thought I could do anything. I hired a film crew and filmed hours of verité and interview footage, as well as gathering countless hours of archival materials. Although I was most interested in making a film about my parents’ theories and ideas, I realized that the human story was the one I wanted to tell. I was extremely lucky, in Anita Naughton, to have found a writer and editor who was able to sift through all of the footage and paint this intimate portrait. She met my parents and was struck at how they were exactly the same on camera as in real life. She found them eccentric, witty, impossible and brilliant and this is what she wanted to capture. She had no background in architecture, so the architectural revelations about their work were new to her as well. We wanted a film for people that knew everything about architecture and those that knew nothing.

"This powerful documentary makes me wonder why we know so little about meaningful architects. Stardust is a beautiful portrait of the nature of genius" 

Anthony Haden -Guest, Art Critic and Writer

"Stardust is an absolutely wonderful piece of work, so full of love and understanding, so say nothing of its being the best film on the glorious/torturous calling of architecture that I’ve ever seen." 

Martin Filler,  Architectural Critic for  The New York Review of Books

STARDUST

THE STORY OF ROBERT VENTURI & DENISE SCOTT BROWN