Watercolor (2018)

Directed by: Viktor Kosakovskiy | 90 minutes | documentary

Water is the most precious element on Earth. It is the place where life originated billions of years ago and is a basic necessity of life for the majority of all earth’s inhabitants. But water can also be devastating, for example in the form of floods and tidal waves. In ‘Aquarela’, filmmaker Viktor Kosakovskiy takes us on a journey that captures the world of water in all its manifestations: tranquil, peaceful, frozen, beautiful, ferocious and destructive.

The film opens in distant Russia, where a couple of daredevils drive a car to the frozen Lake Baikal (the largest and deepest lake in the world) every winter. This often goes well, but in less cold years a vehicle sometimes sinks through the ice. That opening scene starts a bit funny with locals trying to get a car out from under the ice with the help of a pulley. However, when the camera zooms out and shows the mighty expanse of ice that is Lake Baikal in the depths of winter, awe takes over.

That is certainly the case when we are introduced to Poseidon’s wrath later in the film. We see how meters-high waves, pushed up by Hurricane Irma, pound the coast of Florida with a devastating force. The danger is tangible and splashes off the screen. This extremely violent side of the water again contrasts sharply with Venezuela’s Salto Ángel, a towering waterfall where the waters guarantee a spectacle as beautiful as it is enchanting. The images of icebergs bobbing on the waves in the coldest regions of the earth also exude splendor and serenity. Kosakovskiy’s goal is clear: to capture in images all the emotions that the world of water evokes in the human mind. The soundtrack is also fine-tuned to the footage. For example, the sturdy cello metal of the Finnish Apocalyptica is used to add some extra power to the most turbulent natural scenes.

Man and animal play a minor role in ‘Aquarela’. Birds, whales, dolphins and human or animal victims of the water violence pass by now and then, but that’s about it. ‘Aquarela’ is above all a film about inanimate nature, a portrait of the forces (the sea, ice, weather and climate) that ultimately determine the fate of all living beings. The absence of a human narrator emphasizes that Kosakovskiy wants to let the elements speak, with the water taking the lead. A documentary full of beautiful images and moments, although the running time for a film of this type is ultimately a bit generous.