Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Rivers and Tides Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 13, 2017

Winner of German Film Awards for Best Documentary and Best Cinematography, Thomas Riedelsheimer's "Rivers and Tides" (2001) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Curzon Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include multiple featurettes with information about Andy Goldsworthy's work. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

People like Andy Goldsworthy not only see the world we live in differently, they feel it differently, and I have a theory why that is. They recognize that nature has a unique pulse that essentially determines how life evolves and when it is altered -- whether by the passing of time, cosmic anomalies or devastating human actions -- they can properly decode its responses. Some do the decoding in the lab, while analyzing complex data and images that are gathered by super-intelligent computers, but a few, like Goldsworthy, do it through their art.

It is a fascinating process and Thomas Riedelsheimer‘s Rivers and Tides does a very good job of breaking it down and explaining its dynamics, but I would like to mention a few things that should bring some important clarity before you even view the film. If you have never heard of Goldsworthy and start reading about his work, you will almost certainly conclude that he is an unconventional sculptor that utilizes only natural materials. It is how the big and authoritative articles that you will be referred to explain Goldsworthy -- first they describe his special work and then end up profiling him, typically as a sculptor or artist. A lot of the logic behind these articles is justified, but the profiling is basically incomplete. Why? Because Goldsworthy’s art is only the end product of the decoding that I mentioned earlier, and his relationship with nature is actually a lot more important. In other words, in order to understand Goldsworthy and his art, you should focus on his philosophy of life, rather than on the striking sculptures/objects he creates while moving around.

Riedelsheimer’s film is divided into multiple episodes in which Goldsworthy is seen working on different art projects. All of them are more or less time-sensitive projects that are initiated and finalized under very specific conditions. At the end Riedelsheimer always shows how they blend with nature, or are slowly but steadily destroyed by it.

The creative process is unusual to say the least, but it is the manner in which Goldsworthy describes nature and his experiences with it that make Riedelsheimer’s film fascinating to behold. Goldsworthy's words reveal a profound appreciation of nature’s timeless powers that is at the very core of his art, and ultimately the key to understanding it.

At the top of this article I grouped Goldsworthy with the scientists that do advanced work to better understand the world we live in and now I wish to draw a line between them. While they do a similar type of decoding through their work, Goldsworthy’s understanding of nature comes directly from his intimate, borderline spiritual bond with it. It is a complex and very fluid bond whose evolution is reflected through his art. The scientists’ work is defined by an entirely different type of appreciation for nature and its powers, and ultimately the unconditional rejection of everything that scientific logic struggles to explain.

Rivers and Tides Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Thomas Riedelsheimer's Rivers and Tides arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Curzon Artificial Eye.

The release is sourced from an older master that was probably prepared towards the end of the DVD era. The bulk of the film looks rather soft and often it is quite easy to tell that clarity isn't optimal. Also, some light degraining was performed and as a a result depth is never as pleasing as it should be. Colors are stable, but saturation should be better. A fresh master should reveal a wider and proper range of nuances. The good news here is that there are no traces of sharpening adjustments, so even though the film can look soft, you will never see the type of distracting anomalies that digital sharpening introduces. Image stability is very good. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free payer in order to access its content).

Rivers and Tides Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

I viewed the film with the 5.1 track and thought that it handled the various organic sounds and noises as well as Fred Frith's score really well. Rather predictably for a documentary feature, however, the original sound design does not offer any opportunities where the surround speakers can shine. The dialog is clean and stable.

Rivers and Tides Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Featurettes - the featurettes that are listed below take a closer look at the conception of many of Andy Goldsworthy's art projects. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. The Storm King Wall (20 min).
  2. Autumn Works (4 min).
  3. Garlic Leaves (4 min).
  4. Ice Arch (5 min).
  5. Black Stone (6 min).
  6. Leaf Works (6 min).
  7. The Old Studio (2 min).

• Andy Goldsworthy - presented in text-format.

• Thomas Riedelsheimer - presented in text-format.

Rivers and Tides Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A lot of people conveniently profile Andy Goldsworthy only as an unconventional artist, but I think that such a description is quite misleading. My impression is that Goldsworthy can actually understand (a more accurate term would be decode) nature and the complex processes that define it perhaps as well as a lot of scientists do, but he does it through his art, which reveals in different ways the strength of his intimate bond with it. If you have been curious about Goldsworthy and his art, Thomas Riedelsheimer's documentary Rivers and Tides should provide a lot of meaningful answers and quite possibly even inspire you to further research the man and his work. RECOMMENDED.