The
island of Espíritu Santo is wild land, off limits to humanity. It sounds like an awful, forbidding place,
but Mexican environmentalists consider it one of their greatest triumphs. To commemorate this feat of preservation,
Spanish artist Cristina Iglesias created a special installation, not on the new
no man’s zone, but off the coast, on the floor of the Sea of Cortez, bringing
new meaning to the term “site specific.”
Thomas Reidelsheimer documents the creation and dedication of the
Espiritu Santo architectural sculpture in Garden
in the Sea (trailer
here), which
screens during this year’s DocuWeeks.
There
is a tiny irony that a film taking us to task for all we collectively dump into
the ocean would also celebrate plunging a series of concrete gates into said
waters. Yes, it’s hardly the same thing,
but it is still rather odd. Still, there
is a good chance the fish will like having it down there, like a giant aquarium
ornament. Potentially, Garden could have been one of those
documentaries that take viewers someplace they will most likely never have the opportunity
to visit, like Into Eternity, Michael
Madsen’s tour of Finland’s subterranean nuclear waste depository Onkalo or Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog’s
3D journey into the Chauvet cavern.
Unfortunately,
despite the striking vistas of Espíritu Santo and the liberal helpings of
underwater photography, Garden simply
is not very cinematic. Frankly, it feels
more like a cable special than a theatrical documentary feature, particularly
given the relatively brief sixty-nine minute running time. However, it includes some soothing but
distinctive Stephan Micus music licensed from the ECM label, perfectly suited
to the aquatic theme.
Perhaps
you have to be there. Swimming through
Iglesias’s Atlantis gates is probably a pretty cool experience for scuba divers,
but at about ten feet tall, they are not imposing enough to command the big
screen. There are also only three of
them too, so the project cannot really be thought of as Christo and
Jeanne-Claude’s The Gates underwater.
Granted,
Espíritu Santo is a nice story about engaged citizens taking direct action. However, most viewers will have nagging doubts
whether turning the preserve over to the Mexican government is the wisest
course of action. One has the uneasy
feeling that if the environmental consortium is not constantly monitoring it,
the beautiful island might be turned to more nefarious purposes. Of course, Garden is not about to address any concerns regarding systemic government
corruption in Mexico. (Instead, look out for Bernardo Ruiz’s Reportero on the festival circuit for
that kind of reality check.)
