Antonio Gaudí

"Only through the alternately eerie and euphonious score, Teshigahara seems to inject some hints of personal commentaries to the rapt viewers, whereas his camera dutifully observes, peers, scopes from varied distances and angles to establish a comprehensive visual overview of Gaudí's grotesque, sui generis, multifaceted art pieces, juttedly ensconcing themselves among our temporal existence and simultaneously distinguishing themselves from any possible angle of our collective gaze, and the most crucial impression is that Gaudí's buildings are never off-limits, they are built for the mass to gawp at, to spend time with, to dwell in, only occasionally, Teshigahara draws on imagery to suggest the possible inspirations which lead Gaudí's creative juice flow (the neo-Gothic influence for instance)."

read my full review on cinema omnivore, thanks

Is this a documentary ?

Of course it is not, since there are no voice-overs, obtrusive commentaries and no polemics.

Yes, sure it is, because it gives a lot of background and insight to a unique artist, who, although legend has it, did not came out of the blue. Nature provided him with a lot of inspiration, and the movie shows some architects of the same epoque and generation, who try to go the same way Gaudi did.

With a handful of explaining subtitles and one interview director/producer/editor Hiroshi Teshigahara (don't miss his incredible WOMAN IN THE DUNES) shows it all in a wonderful way in this 'documentary or is it a feature', in which the music of Toru Takemitsu is never on the foreground but inescapable present.

Watching this picture will give the viewer the shortest 73 minutes of his or hers live. Is there nothing wrong then... Well, every now and then there are too many dark corners, but to paraphrase Cinematographer Nestor Almendros: Darkness stimulates the viewers mind, and maybe even his imagination. And camera-movements are neat but a bit crude. But of course, truely gifted camera-operators like Alessandro Bolognesi & Erwin Steen were too young in '84 to help the Japanese Maestro out.

Thank you Antoni Gaudi; thank you Catalunia. Thank You Teshigahara and Takemitsu.

Do you wanna see some REALLY cool architechture? Rent this movie. The structures and buildings on display are unlike anything else on Earth. Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926) was a believer in naturalism, and his structures utilized a lot of organic principles. The buildings showcased, (and their subsequent interiors), are almost otherworldly, and they often look like something from Tolkien or Giger. (Think Middle Earth). Almost all of the film is devoted to showcasing Gaudi's work, which included apartments, homes, offices, outdoor structures, and fantastic cathedrals. Hiroshi Teshigahara, himself a student of art and ikebana (i.e. Japanese flower arrangement), was a highly visual film director, and his treatment of Gaudi's work is brilliant. There is essentially no narration, but the film's ambient score and breathtaking visuals work to reinforce the true genius of Gaudi's architechture. I was awestruck by the magnitude of this stuff, and the film takes you very close to the work of this incredible genius. Gaudi and Teshigahara are both on high display here, and the result is an entrancing, memorable experience. Highly recommended.

This is a puzzling film. It's magnificently shot. But there is next to no information. If you did not know who Gaudi was, you would be lost. Turns out I was in Barcelona a couple of years ago and read up on Gaudi. The photography is stunning but I still want to know more. I saw a lot of Gaudi's buildings in Barcelona but had no idea there were this many. The movie tells nothing about the man. For example, his crypt. I think that's what it was. They never said. What was the story behind it. (Gaudi died after being hit by a streetcar.) His work was unique. Oddly enough, although he was famous, no one ever picked up and built on his style as they did with, say, Frank Lloyd Wright. If I was shooting a movie about an alien planet, his buildings would be the perfect set. They have a Ray Bradbury quality. You wonder what he may have been smoking when he designed them. Having said that, this probably would be right behind Rocky Horror Picture Show as an ideal film for toking up. It's well worth watching if only for the brilliant camera work.

Be warned that this is not your typical documentary. There is very little dialogue. If you are one of little patience like me, I recommend watching this movie on your laptop browser while simultaneously trying to get some work done, or while chatting with a friend and sharing a bottle of wine. But be warned: without any notice, your work will go mysteriously uncompleted, and the conversation with your friend will inexplicably go quiet as you are sucked into the screen.

I visited Barcelona over a year ago and saw many of Gaudi's works and projects for myself, and can definitively say that this film truly captures the sensation of being awed by something that cannot be described by words alone-- a sensation that one feels when encountering a work of Gaudi completely by surprise, after the layers of the city are peeled away. Gaudi's works are shown in the context of scenes of the hustle and bustle of Barcelona life, the haunting medieval churches, the Catalonian countryside, and the amazing forms in nature which impacted Gaudi's art. Occasionally, old black-and-white photographs of the city streets and people are presented, showing scenes of the Barcelona Gaudi lived and worked in. The wonderful, trippy music captures the shift in mood as the camera moves through a noisy, colorful crowd enjoying Parc Guell and then slowly zooming in onto the unsettling, hallucinatory giant sculptural forms that miraculously coexist with this everyday world.

I am not saying that watching this movie will be an adequate replacement for seeing the city of Barcelona and Gaudi's structures for yourself. But as someone who visited Barcelona but was discouraged from venturing into Gaudi's buildings by skyrocketing ticket prices and endless lines, I greatly appreciated this movie, which allowed me to glimpse the miraculous city and architecture through Teshigahara's eyes. Now go to Barcelona and make it your own.