Marcas da Água

Stunningly beautiful and powerful images highlight this examination of how mankind re-shapes water and how it flows – for good and ill, more often ill - and in turn how the water re-shapes civilization and human behavior.

There's no real story, just a series of visits to locations around the world where water powerfully interacts with humanity, like the pilgrimage of 30 million people to bathe in the Ganges river.

Without narration and a specific focus the film could be accused of being too diffuse. But for me the raw power of the images – Burtynsky is one of our greatest still photographers who has spent much of his career creating huge images of humans and nature clashing and interacting - give the piece a poetic, if not literal power and solidity.

Also, if the film is not enough, there's an almost 40 minute gallery of Burtynsky's amazing still images, which look great blown up on a HD set, as he explains the photographs and how they were taken. That extra alone is reason enough to own the blu-ray. It's like the world's best photography book, with the images at least a little closer in size to Burtynsky's massive prints.

Watermark is a movie about water. It is film in a very choppy way and the narrative is not really structured in a way that allows the audience to understand what is going on, yet this movie seems to have something kind of special about it. I believe that the thinking process of the film-maker, to be unique to the film world, which is a positive thing. I believe this movie to be a stamp of the film makers consciousness in the sense of the fragmentation of the pictures, combined with the story. This approach forces the audience to individual the film experience and to piece together the essence of the movie.

Having lived in British Columbia, Canada and having lived near the Fraser River in Canada, I can understand the beauty that river water has. The natural flow of water is a profoundly spiritual sensation because of the beauty of flowing water combined with the sound of rushing water, on the other hand, river water can be very destructive out of her own nature, as when the mountain snows melt and dams break and houses and human lives get destroyed, there is a feeling of utter helpless and despair that goes hand and hand with the profound beauty of water. One of the main conflicts in human life is man against nature. And to me that is what this is movie is about.

I have recently watched two political documentaries. First, The Unknown Known. Second, Watermark.

The first one is about glorifying a psychopath. It tells of his exploits as he uses humanity as subjects of his experiments. Its only saving grace is its honesty as it is unquestionably political.

The second one is this one, Watermark, and it has absolutely none of this honesty. It is a documentary that uses the awesomeness of nature to disguise political propaganda. It is essentially babies and puppies. Cheap manipulation to sneak in an ideology.

A number of these "nature" documentaries is being made nowadays. Big, big, big money is being given to "friendly" folks in the movie industry. Pockets full of cash, they are taking their skills around the world (literally) and making visually high-quality films. Unfortunately, the price of this funding is a script that makes adults cringe.

Consequently, this kind of "nature" documentaries is meant to be played in mute. Mozart, Armstrong, (or Pink Floyd if that's your preference) are far superior material to listen to while enjoying the unspeakable magnificence of our planet.

Watermark is also boring at times. The political obsession coupled with a jejune understanding of society and culture compromises the choice of visual subject. If they cannot use as a weapon to hurl at you, they won't show it.

This Canadian documentary travels the globe to expose the various ways water is used in different regions and societies and how man-made projects might be harming the water systems.

The film's greatest strength is its photography. Some aerial views not only provide gripping images of natural beauty but also stunning images of dam projects and dried rivers.

Some commentaries are interesting but, by the end, it feels that there is rather a lack of a cohesive theme or outlook. Although it is best to leave the conclusions to the viewer, the film would have been more effective with a bit more general commentary to reach that conclusion. - dbamateurcritic.

This movie showcases the cinematographer/director's beautiful eye. That's it. His ego is on display in the cinematography along with all of his indulgences. The images are beautiful, buy very bad storytelling. The opening of this file is interesting in that it gets your attention, but then quickly lost mine as I thought I was watching a silent film. This is not a documentary. The most dialogue happens around the 45 minute mark. I still don't know what their main point was for this movie. What is it about water that they are trying to get across? Basically, what I got of this movie is that they left it up to us to make our own conclusion about water. I watch movies so I don't have to come to my own conclusion. If I want only my own opinion then I don't need to watch a movie for that. That's an hour and half that I will never get back.