CMFH Film Reviews

1984, Japan
Biography, Documentary, History
Review by Deborah Dearth

Artistic epiphanies are hard to encapsulate from a memory, much less into a physical manifestation. Director Hiroshi Teshigahara captured his influence on film through his 1984 documentary, Antonio Gaudí, and the Criterion Collection presents an excellent 2-disc set with a restored, high-definition digital transfer of the film.

Those unfamiliar with the Spanish architect's radical artistry will be mesmerized when viewing Gaudí's work for the first time. Tremendously complex designs are carved from stone yet breathe with organic life as columns extend like trees and walls stretch like skin around labyrinthine corridors. The biomorphic Casa Batlló mimics a dragon, with polychromatic roof tiles as scales and pillars as the bones of its victims. Other structures are not so obvious, such as the earthy Colònia Güell crypt dripping with stalactite-like forms. In contrast are the fantastically detailed towering spires of Barcelona's Sagrada Família temple, Gaudí's famously unfinished life work with details so elevated only God can admire them. Considering that these forms were built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the public surely must have thought these odd creatures were evidence of a mad mind, brilliant or otherwise.

Born in the year following Gaudí's death in 1926, Teshigahara's artistic sensibilities paralleled the man who inspired him. By studying drawings in books, Gaudí discovered Middle Eastern attributes that bled into his work. By visiting Europe, Teshigahara became captivated by the avant-garde movement that altered his viewpoint. Both sought to infuse nature into the immobile and breathe life into stagnant forms. Solid structures became fluid, and film moved beyond the screen.

Nearly 20 years after his contemplative, award-winning Woman in the Dunes, Teshigahara presents Gaudí's buildings with careful focus and admiration. The film begins by introducing a Spanish culture steeped in religious and military history — lovely but unimaginative. With an eerie chord the mood shifts, and Gaudí's organic buildings noticeably clash with tradition. Connected by sinewy similarities but individually unique, music guides the atmosphere surrounding each building. Compositions emphasize the contradictions in styles and materials, from bouncy melodies to grave meditations to ominous strings. As the camera slowly sweeps rooms and sculptures, it pauses on curious details. Explanations of technique and history are nearly nonexistent, but the film's focus relies on the buildings' intriguing designs; such appreciation does not require extensive interpretation.

However, as per Criterion's unrivaled standards, the discs deliver a master class on the artistry of both filmmaker and subject. The presentation contemplates whether a captivating documentary is the result of a fascinating topic, a well-shaped study or both. Though Teshigahara's pictorial technique is simple and the dialogue sparse, his use of music to demonstrate the various influences of each structure elevates the film beyond a travelogue slide show. When compared to the 1959 footage that first revealed his fascination with the architect and launched him into a filmmaking career, it becomes obvious that both director and artist play a factor in the final film's success.

Other extras include an educational but critical examination of Gaudí's work in an episode of the BBC program, "Visions of Space," a less detailed but still informative episode of the mid-century BBC program, "Monitor," and Teshigahara's short film, "Sculptures by Sofu: Vita," following his influential father installing an art exhibit. A booklet features an essay by art critic Dore Ashton, a reflection by the late director on his first trip abroad and a transcribed conversation between Teshigahara and his influential father, Sofu, immediately following the 1959 tour.