A raw, majestic beauty permeates this Eco-minded documentary from Russian native Viktor Kossakovski (in HD and shot in 96 frames/second through shown mostly in 48 in giant-screen venues).
Aquarela has a sweeping raptness about how water makes its presence in nature from the deepest lake in the World. Russia’s Lake Baikal, to Greenland, Venezuela, and Miami (from the eye of Hurricane Irma – as Dorian of late has devastated the Bahamas and could cause more destruction along the East Coast).
Early on, Kossakovsky trails a rescue team at the aforementioned icy lake which is thawing out ‘three weeks early’ in the winter so passengers are in need of transport after raising some submerged vehicles.
The Greenland section may have the more exhilarating imagery with glaciers rupturing and sinking into the ocean as the lensing depicts extra ordinary shots, especially in an underwater intimacy.
Part of a lingering frustration for on-lookers might be a lack of frame-of-reference. Take for example, a lady maneuvering a vessel through a wide expansion of floating ice that is part of what has no captions/subtitles or communication.
But, the human element is likely only a key to the filmmaking in terms of what continues to happen even if there’s no sense of cumulative impact from what has been around for a long time, well before Titanic met its fate with an iceberg in the North Atlantic.
The spectacle continues below and above equatorial regions, whether in Angel Falls of South Beach, evoking much admiration but not much more. While Aquarela is billed as felicitous, artful non-fiction presentation the punishing and dissolving elements really doesn’t make climate change more tautly immediate than tedious. Even as the picture can easily whet the appetite of naturalists.