Rivers and Tides (2001)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Thomas Riedelsheimer

Writers:

Release Date:

7 March 2002 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Andy Goldsworthy working with time.

Plot:

Portrait of Andy Goldsworthy, an artist whose specialty is ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature. |

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Nature | Sculpture | Canada | Ice

Awards:

7 wins

Cast

Andy Goldsworthy

...

Himself

Also Known As:

Andy Goldsworthy: Rivers & Tides - Working with Time (Australia)
Fluß der Zeit (Germany) (TV title)
Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time (International: English title)

Runtime:

90 min | Argentina:92 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

Germany | Finland | UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Switzerland:6 (canton of Zurich) | Argentina:Atp | Germany:o.Al. | Switzerland:6 (canton of the Grisons) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Digne, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France

Company:

Mediopolis Film- und Fernsehproduktion

If you appreciate great art, please see this film

On one level, this film can bring out the child in us that just wants to build sandcastles and throw stuff in the air just for the sake of seeing it fall down again. On a deeper level though, it explores a profound desire to reconnect with the land. I thoroughly empathized with the artist when he said, "when I'm not out here (alone) for any length of time, I feel unrooted."

I considered Andy Goldsworthy one of the great contemporary artists. I'm familiar with his works mainly through his coffee-table books and a couple art gallery installations. But to see his work in motion, captured perfectly through Riedelsheimer's lens, was a revelation. Unfrozen in time, Goldsworthy's creations come alive, swirling, flying, dissolving, crumbling, crashing.

And that's precisely what he's all about: Time. The process of creation and destruction. Of emergence and disappearing. Of coming out of the Void and becoming the Universe, and back again. There's a shamanic quality about him, verging on madness. You get the feeling, watching him at work, that his art is a lifeforce for him, that if he didn't do it, he would whither and perish.

Luckily for us, Goldsworthy is able to share his vision through the communication medium of photography. Otherwise, with the exception of a few cairns and walls, they would only exist for one person.