“Less well-known than his features is Tanner's early documentary work: A City At Chandigarh, directed by Tanner and written and narrated by John Berger, deftly develops the political, philosophical, and social implications inherent in the creation of Chandigarh, an Indian city built from scratch by Le Corbusier.

“The building of Chandigarh, commissioned by the Indian government, began in 1950 when Le Corbusier was 63 years of age. He became the head of a team of architects who would put his vision of a modern city into practice for the first time. At the time of the film's shooting 120,000 people already inhabited the city. Berger points out this paradox: the creation of the most modern of urban environments amid ancient poverty and Indian traditions: ‘To build Chandigarh meant crossing many centuries.... built by hand and carried on the heads of women... each brick carted as it was 4,000 years ago.' Berger's commentary is eloquent and concise. His social conscience is always integrated with his art critic's keen eye: ‘Who built Babylon? We read the names of kings.... On the night the Great Wall of China was built where did the masons go?' In vivid, almost lyrical prose Berger speaks of the relation of people to space in Le Corbusier's design, of the roles of sexism and class prejudice in Indian society, and of his hopes for an India in which logically conceived and executed institutions such as Chandigarh will lay the groundwork for a more orderly and just society.”