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The Fountainhead is another book I need to read, but since Atlas Shrugged took me so long, I think I'll hold off on that for a while. In the meantime, I caught the film adaptation (actually adapted by Ayn Rand herself) starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal. Perhaps it's because I just came off of reading one of her novels, but I seemed to like this movie a lot more than most other readers. Cooper plays Howard Roark, an architect with a modern eye who's trapped in a world of weak-minded traditionalists. He could be one of the most significant artists of his time, but no one wants to hire him. When columnist Dominique Francon finds out that an article about his latest creation is going to be negative, she quits the paper, even though she's never met Roark.

The two meet when she finds him working as a laborer for her father, although she still doesn't know who he is. Dominique's instantly attracted to him but a bit repressed. She doesn't easily admit what she wants, and so Roark takes charge - she tries to run away, but he forces himself on her, which is exactly what she wants. This scene sounds and may look a little strange, and probably came across badly in its day, but for anyone who's read an Ayn Rand novel, it fits right in with her style of writing. Her protagonists are passionate and are consumed by their emotions. And Rand seemed to have a thing for a little sadism in the bedroom in her stories. Since her main character is supposed to be a man who lives by ideals and takes what he wants, it fits right in. There's a lot of suggestive imagery in the movie as well. Honestly, the dynamics between Neal and Cooper are the most entertaining aspect.

A lot of people claim fault with Cooper's portrayal of Roark. I can't weigh in on how he compares with the character in the novel, but to me, he came across a lot like the character of Hank Reardon in Atlas Shrugged. I liked it. He isn't passionate the verbal delivery of his lines, but he appears physically resolute. He states the facts with confidence and doesn't have time for nonsense.

This works for the majority of the movie, but critics are right when they say that Roark's final speech in the courtroom was a little anticlimactic. Apparently Rand only agreed to write the screenplay if everything she wrote was kept in the movie, and then had a fit when the company wanted to shorten the speech. She likes her characters to rant a lot, which is most evident in the 50-page radio address in Atlas Shrugged that nearly made me quit after having already gotten through a thousand pages. Also, the word on the street is that Cooper didn't even understand all of what he was saying (a little slow, maybe?) so it just didn't end up being the perfect ending for the film. A review I skimmed mentioned something about the fact that Rand's characters aren't real people; they are mouths for philosophical points of view. I can see that, and I can see why people wouldn't like that. I guess coming so closely off the tails of reading one of her novels, it really didn't bother me. After all, this movie is only two hours, which feels like a breeze when compared with how wordy Rand can get.

One thing I really admired about The Fountainhead was the visual style. It's everything I imagined the world of Rand to be. The sets are lavish, the clothes are stylish, and the buildings are sleek. There are cool shadows and angles everywhere. I could probably have enjoyed the movie on that merit alone.

It's always interesting to me how reading affects one's interpretations of movies. In this case, I didn't even read The Fountainhead, but knew enough of its author, and that influenced me greatly. I like the strength of conviction in her characters, no matter how flawed some of their (thus her) philosophies may be. I actually agree with a lot of the themes she emphasizes (about man's integrity and ideals), but unfortunately, her characters' passion go to levels of extremism and leave me feeling disappointed. What she has to say is interesting food for thought, to be sure. As a result, I went with the flow of this movie and enjoyed the ride. I still don't quite understand how people reached such high levels of animosity over architectural styles, but I get what it's going for, and appreciate the effort.