Who knew?
I didn’t.
Columbus Indiana: National Geographic Traveler ranked Columbus 11th on its historic destinations list in late 2008, describing the city as “authentic, unique, and unspoiled.” In its built environment, the relatively small city has provided a unique place for noted Modern architecture and public art, commissioning numerous works since the mid-20th century.
I never had the distaste for modernist architecture of which it is often the target. There are uninteresting exemplars of any style, and there are amazing specimens of modernism. Westmount Square is one of my favourite sites in Montreal. I like the scale, footprint, colour and design. It doesn’t feel like it intrudes, yet it captures your attention. Of a fair size, yet doesn’t lose human scale. It should have served as a example of elegant restraint for any number of other projects in the city. Instead, it was messed with. The buildings in Columbus, the city and the film, have received more care.
The film is also a model of restraint, cutting past any sensationalism and centring on some elemental emotional states. It’s a simple story of two people who provide each
other with support in a time of crisis, the kind of thing long a central part of the independent film repertoire. The built environment serves as a protective shell for their reflections, deliberations and eventual choices. Consequently, it is a visually compelling backdrop to the emergence of a sensible, warm and mutually beneficial friendship.
Added bonus, no need for an inclusion rider, as the story is about people who are routinely absent or subordinated in films, much like buildings are. Not at all the case here.
Long thought that I needed to do a road trip running the centre of the continent, from South Saskatchewan, thru Utah, down to New Mexico then up the coast. Looks like I need to go thru Columbus Indiana on the way.