Christo Movies
- 2007
From "wrapping" the Berlin Reichstag to transforming South Seas islands into massive pink water lilies to hanging drapes between the Colorado mountains, Christo qualifies as one of the most dynamic, innovative, and ambitious conceptual artists in modern history. Documentarians Albert and David Maysles have a long-running professional association with Christo (having co-directed such pictures as Christo's Valley Curtain and Christo's Islands); now, with their film The Gates, Albert Maysles and co-director Antonio Ferrera cover Christo and wife Jeanne-Claude's 26-year project to create a "golden river" of 7,500 fabric-paneled "gates" running through Central Park in February 2005. The endeavor began in 1979, but didn't overcome the necessary bureaucratic hurtles for 26 years, and only received a final go-ahead with a green light from New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. The film reveals how Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 21-million-dollar project transforms the environment from one of winter bleakness to one of brisk, vibrant, and springlike colors. Though David Maysles (brother of Albert) did die in 1987, he received posthumous credit on this film for a sequence that the siblings co-directed in 1979. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christo, Jeanne-Claude, (more)
- 1996
The collaboration of artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude has resulted in unparalleled works of art that are strikingly innovative in their scale and ambition. In Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the viewer can get an idea of the enormous amount of work that goes into each project, some taking over 20 years to complete. Many, if not all of their projects meet opposition, partly because they are public artworks, and must have the approval of officials. In the face of so much disapproval, they have managed to complete an impressive number of works, including Valley Curtain, Wrapped Coast, and Wrapped Reichstag (German Parliament building). ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
- 1990
The works of Christo have usually met resistance whenever he has attempted his large-scale projects. Due to their unconventional nature, communities have not been totally accepting of his ideas. However, the results have generally been favorable once the projects are completed, and the public sees the effect of the work. Christo in Paris gives viewers a chance to judge for themselves, presenting the Pont Neuf project from its planning stages to the final wrapping in September of 1985. The Pont Neuf bridge was enveloped in a woven fabric, including all 12 arches, the sidewalks, and street lamps, while traffic continued to flow. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
- 1983
This documentary records artist Christo's major wrapping projects and is one means for him to gain both recognition (which he has in ample measure) and funding. All of his enormously large-scale wrappings -- including those of buildings, trees, the Pont Neuf in France, and the hanging of a cloth fence for 24 miles along the California coastline -- involve almost as much labor as an architectural construction and are funded by himself and his wife Jeanne-Claude. His wrapping of the Berlin Reichstag took 17 years to complete. Featured here is his transformation of several islands off the coast of Florida into grandiose pink water lilies floating on a deep blue sea. But Christo does not just walk up with a full crew and machinery in hand and get to work. As shown here, his confrontations with august city fathers from Berlin, Paris, and Miami further illustrate the classic, head-on clashes between art and a pragmatic bureaucracy that can either nip a project in the bud or promote it. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
