Walking on Water

The transient mega-artwork of Christo Javacheff—made in collaboration with his wife Jeanne-Claude until her death in 2009—is celebrated in Andrey M. Paounov’s documentary Walking on Water, which follows the creation of one of Christo’s recent gigantic populist exhibitions: The Floating Piers, a series of walkways installed at Lake Iseo in northern Italy from June 18 to July 3, 2016. The exhibit consisted of chains of interlocking plastic cubes, their tops covered with bright saffron cloth, which stretched from the village of Sulzano to (and around) islands in the lake, and when traversed gave pedestrians the illusion of walking on the water’s surface. Except for a postscript showing Christo traveling to Abu Dhabi after the exhibition had been dismantled to scout locations for his next project, Paounov’s film closes with images—many aerial—of the walkways as thousands of visitors enjoyed the effect. But before that triumph, the film covers the preliminary work of planning and design, in which Christo and his nephew and aide Vladimir Yavachev discuss the project, often breaking out in volatile arguments. Myriad logistical problems had to be overcome, before actual construction could proceed, and the opening was threatened by the fact that—contrary to promises—officials failed to take necessary measures for crowd control. Throughout, Christo comes across as an engaging figure—a cantankerous but committed octogenarian—and Yavachev is a dedicated servant of his art. While there are other documentaries about Christo—including The Gates (VL-9/09)—this is one of the best. Extras include deleted scenes. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)