A must see, if you care about Modern Architecture and the most seminal and influential architects of the 20th Century.Photographed by a Master photographer with photographs that are even better than the great buildings they portray are featured throughout together with Julius Shulman's observations on life, architecture and photography as he takes you on a walk through his garden and the his past as well. He is widely recognized as the best architectural photographer of all time. His photograph of the cliff hanging Stahl House , Case Study #22 made it the most famous house and architectural photograph of all time! California , Los Angeles and Palm Springs were at the forefront of a new wave of Modern Architecture that combined inside and outside that had not been done before. It benefited from the California climate and melded the buildings into their sites using topography,light and view.It featured groundbreaking new ideas of "form following function" and even "ornament is crime". It enabled a new era and lifestyle to emerge and become iconic. Wonderfully brought to the screen and fully realized and crafted with vintage footage , interviews and photographs revealed here for the first time for new audiences and old fans.

It's really a "Homage" to Julius Shulman , Modern Architecture and Southern California in its Golden Age.

This is one of those documentaries that is just about impossible to screw up. Julius Shulman was such a monumental figure in both 20th century photography and modern architecture (not to mention an affable and entertaining subject) that a documentarian need only to remember to take the lens cap off - the movie makes itself.

That being said, this film at times takes a on a tone that I felt undermined the content. Aside from a few exceptions, the "wacky" animations and motion graphics which worked in films like 'The Kid Stays in the Picture' felt very out of place here. Furthermore, the production standards for much of the interview footage was appallingly low - especially considering it is a movie ABOUT a photographer.

All of this aside, I do recommend seeing this if you are a fan of Shulman's work or mid century modern architecture. Maybe I'm being too hard on this film, but after waiting for months to see this in the theater, I left a bit disappointed. Considering so much of this film concerns itself with the fundamentals of modernism where "form follows function", I really feel that the style of someone like Gary Hustwit ('Helvetica' & 'Objectified') would have been a lot more suited to this production.