CREATION in Gaudí
2021 · 6m · España
Directed by María Laín
Genres: documentary, essay film
Tones: contemplative, tender
An environmental look on the architectural and sculptural elements of the Sagrada Familia; through the explanations of the architect Chiara Curti, the work reveals Gaudí's concern for the care of creation, and how he saw the human being within nature.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
It's basically a museum docent video dressed up as cinema — Gaudí's mysticism filtered through architectural analysis, which is exactly the kind of reverent, consensus-friendly take that makes me wonder why we're even watching it as film rather than a gallery placard.
Laín positions herself in a lineage of essayistic documentary that treats architecture as philosophy made spatial; the tender pacing and Curti's meditative voice create a film genuinely aware of how to let formal elements — stone, light, form — speak as primary text rather than illustration.
The decision to let the architect's voice and architectural detail do almost all the narrative work, rather than overlaying score or narration, means every measured cut between structural detail and human scale has to earn its weight — and it does, quietly.