Belly of an Architect blog post

“Belly of an Architect” is unusual to past reading assignments based on the “Schematic Structure” because it is not structured like the past assignments. The introduction of the film does not give the viewer a history of Kracklite’s childhood. The film’s opening scene consists of Kracklite and his wife having sex on a train, that definitely does not show us a glimpse of his past and not even his future, because in the film he and his wife break up. The film gives us an understanding of what is occurring in his life during the nine months he is to live in Rome to work on the exhibition at the Boullee. The film tells the viewer that he is expecting a child with his wife, that he is slightly insane and believes that he communicates to Boullee, (by writing him letters) that he has an extremely horrible stomach problems and he is selfconscious about his stomach, not only inside but outside as well. To be honest while watching the film, I kept getting confused about his obsession for stomachs and if that obsession was supposed to serve as an inspiration for the exhibit or, as I now have concluded that it was the breaking point that lead to his downfall and suicide. I think that fact that the film never really showed him as being a responsible man, working on the exhibit threw me off with his creativity. They really just focus on him scanning hundreds of images of stomachs. Kracklite is portrayed as a very immature man who is self-centered and completely oblivious to his wife’s needs, all his focus is on himself and Boullee, who is dead. Near the beginning of the film, Kracklite becomes obsessed with the notion that his wife is poisoning him with figs and begins vomiting after eating. In reality, Kracklite has stomach cancer, which is causing his symptoms. It can be concluded that he might have tricked himself into believing that he was sick and became sick.

Gender roles are also an interesting topic dealing with this film. This film shows the art world being dominating by men. The only women who are featured are the photographer and his wife. It was interesting to see that the photographer had an interest in bellies and chose Kracklite to be featured in her photos. Although this photographer is a woman and Kracklite and her nearly become intimate, she is not a typical feminine woman, she is extremely androgynous and quite odd for giving off the impression that she bathes with her brother/ is comfortable to sit next to him completely naked. His wife is also not portrayed respectively; she is pregnant with his child while having an affair with Kracklite’s nemesis. At first his wife Louisa is shown as a loving wife to him, but is repelled away from him because of his insane behavior and as she says in the film “obsession with male stomachs, not allowing him to notice that she was pregnant and showing.” Caspian, the man who basically takes away everything from Kracklite serves as a tool that takes away Kracklite’s manhood. There was another metaphor for castration shown with the removal of the noses from statues around the city.

Although this film does work for the themes were are focusing on in class, I cant say that I would want to watch it again. Kracklite’s immaturity and self-centered attitude does not make him a character that one can feel any type of compassion for. I was honestly relieved when he commit suicide because it meant that his craziness was over and now it was time for the peace that comes from the birth of a new baby.