Rick Steve's 25-minute documentary on Catalonia, and particularly, the Mediterranean harbor city of Barcelona, is a most welcome complement to the justly celerbated 1985 documentary by Hiroshi Teshigahara, "Antonio Gadui". In less than half an hour, Mr. Rick succeeds to inform his audience of the rich history, culture, and most importantly, artistic genius of this region, as manifested in the architecture of Antonio Gaudi, or the painitings of Picasso, Dali, and so forth. His presentation is joyful, intelligent, utterly unprejudiced, friendly, and always invested with a child-like curiosity.As such, this short film stands in sharp contrast to the sombre tone of Teshigahara's masterpiece: Where as the Japanese director's documentary, assisted with a score by Toru Takemitsu, inspired awe and amazement, with as few words as possible, and with almost no human voice, Mr. Rick communicates the joie de vivre of this sunny city with his pleasant voice, and inspires a strong desire in the viewer to actually fly over to visit the city!Marginally, Barcelona has been the backdrop of many narrative films, as well including the murder-mystery, "Uncovered", an early Kate Beckinsale, and the wonderfully off-beat comedy, "Barcelona", featuring an early turn by Mira Sorvion. While the first intentionally treats the great architecture of the city as casual locations, the latter juxtaposes the tourist attractions of the city with its modern urban reality, as an integral element of the plot.I encourage everyone with an interest in arts and architecture to view and enjoy Steve Rick's documentary. It's been years since I first saw "Antonio Gaudi", and I haven't had a chance to visit Barcelona, yet. But I had never felt so strongly to do so -- until tonight!© 2010, Payman Akhlaghi. All rights reserved.