THE STONE CARVERS is a great half-hour documentary on a group of individual Italian-American stone carvers working on the gargoyles and other features of the Washington Cathedral. Theirs is all but a lost or dying art. The carvers themselves, fully dedicated professionals of great skill, are funny, witty, ready with great stories of their craft and anecdotes about other carvers. "Practically, I was born into stone," says master carver Vincent Palumbo. The craft of these men has been passed down from generation to generation, and the breed no longer exists willing to endure years of apprenticeship to hone a craft of this difficulty. That's sad for all of us. This film is as solid as the work of its subjects. It won an Academy Award for best documentary short subject for its creators Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner.
2 Reviews
Entertaining and Eyeopening
carnagegrip12 December 2019
The path this film takes you down exposes a dyeing artisan breed that lives their lives for the craft they have learned as it was passed down from those who came before them. You grow to like the subjects and learn to share the life they lead. Intertwined with the continuing growth of the building as if it were a live and breathing thing, driven by the faith of the congregation.
The stone comes to life in the hands of these Masters, thanks to the work of the production crew this is a beautiful window, you may never look at a carved stone the same way again.
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