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Has Hollywood discovered landscape architecture?
Just Like Heaven, starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, tells the story of landscape architect David Abbot (Ruffalo) who moves in to a San Francisco apartment, only to find it is haunted by the ghost of former tenant Doctor Elizabeth Masterson (Witherspoon.) The two characters soon discover that they need each other; David helps Elizabeth to become reunited with her body which lies in a coma in the hospital where she used to work, while Elizabeth helps David to kick-start his flagging career again.
The film did well in America when it was released, but Sam Serafy, writing in Landscape Architecture, the magazine of the American Society of Landscape Architects, said that the film does not convey the true essence of landscape architecture. He said: "While the success of Just Like Heaven will certainly promote greater awareness of the profession, it will do little to shift public perceptions that a landscape architect is anything other than a glorified gardener."
Serafy's point is illustrated in reviews and articles in the media, most of which refer to the character of David Abbot either as an ‘architect' or a ‘gardener'. Jo Atha, a landscape architect at The Landscape Agency in York, reviewed the film's portrayal of landscape architecture for Vista. She reported: "Unfortunately, the film itself did not throw much light on the profession as it played only a very small part in the story. For the first hour and a quarter, the only clue as to the male lead's profession was that he watered a dead pot plant. There were no scenes of office life or site supervision as the character had given up work."
She added: "However, Mark Ruffalo did successfully recreate the somewhat attractive yet slightly dishevelled look of many landscape architects I've met."
She continued: "The only glimpses we were shown of the character's work were a couple of private gardens, apparently created by set designers; simple spiral patterns of gravel, decking and artificial-looking plants. There were no landscape advisers in the credits." Atha did not criticise the film too heavily: "To be fair, the film is a fluffy romantic comedy and although the female lead character was a doctor, the film probably did little to portray the medical profession in an informative way, and it is unreasonable to expect this for landscape architecture," she commented.
"However, given the decision to use the term landscape architect rather than garden designer, it would have been interesting to see a wider range of the work for which we are trained. Landscape architecture does of course encompass garden design, but it is also much more. People generally have a fairly accurate idea of what garden design involves, and it is a shame that viewers will conclude from this film that the two terms are interchangeable," she concluded.
The landscape architecture profession will soon have another claim to fame. Cold Mountain director Anthony Minghella's next project: Breaking and Entering, will star Jude Law as a landscape architect whose encounter with a young thief forces him to reassess his life. Martha Schwartz is rumoured to be involved with the film, which will be released in the UK in February.
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