E.1027: Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea

This is the third film about architect/designer Eileen Gray—one for each house she completed. In contrast, Louis Sullivan, who built Chicago into the commercial city we still know today, only has two. However, Gray’s interior and furniture design work was considerably more prolific. She also let the exponentially more famous Le Corbusier suck her into a bitter, petty rivalry, which unfolds in Beatrice Minger & Christoph Schaub’s docu-dramatic hybrid E.1027: Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea, which opens today in New York.

As an Irish expat in Paris, Gray achieved acclaim for her interior design. She quickly fell in with the modernist movement, especially her future sort of lover, architect Jean Badovici. Working together, but mostly just Gray, they built the striking seaside modernist house, she dubbed E.1027 in their joint honor: “E” for Eileen,” 10 for “J,” 2 for “B,” and 7 for “G.” In a tragically ill-conceived error, she put the house in Badovici’s name, which led many critics to assume it was his design.

Of course, E.1027 was also influenced by the Bauhaus and Le Corbusier, so many also mistakenly attributed it to the alleged Vichy collaborator (who had also designed Soviet commissions)—a misconception he did little to dissuade. In fact, Le Corbusier tried to assert authorship over the lauded house, when Badovici allowed him to paint frescoes over Gray’s unadorned walls. Obviously, by that time, he had taken full possession and sole residency.

We see this play out in Minger & Schaub’s film—sort of. Their approach incorporates traditionally avant-garde techniques, including minimalist stagings (as well as scenes shot on-location), rendered in a deliberately stilted manner. It is all style and little soul. Additional historical context is also provided by conventional documentary interludes, including footage of the elderly re-discovered Gray, presented as a sort of summation.

Minger and company fully chronicle the events of Gray’s life and establish their significance, while breeding contempt for Le Corbusier, which is wholly justified. Minger, Schaub, and cinematographer Ramon Giger also nicely capture a sense of E.1027’s serene vibe, filming throughout the house, from multiple angles. As a living environment, E.1027 is quite warm and inviting. In contrast, the film’s drama is cold and standoffish.

Between E.1027 and Marco Orsini’s Gray Matters, it is safe to say Gray has been pretty well-covered. Perhaps we can move onto someone new going forward, maybe like Robert Robinson Taylor? Frankly, the architectural personality of E.1027 is absolutely the best part of the film bearing its name, as perhaps it should be. Unfortunately, the scenes more concerned with people are too mannered and overly stylized to recommend E.1027 when it opens today (5/16) in New York, at the IFC Center.