Directed by: Darrell Varga
Fire, Ice and Sky is an unconventional documentary about the nature and location of time. That’s right, the location of time. At least that’s what I think it’s about, as the primary question posed at the beginning of the film is, “Where is time?”
The film fields interviews from philosophers, scientists, artists and a former amusement park manager. This eclectic mix of interviews are all presented individually, rather than cut and presented throughout like a traditional documentary. Meanwhile, the camera shows us images from all over the world, from the harvesting of arctic ice to the desolate landscapes of deserts and post-communist Budapest.
Fire, Ice and Sky presents an impenetrably esoteric philosophical discussion that reminds me very much of Richard Linklater’s Waking Life.
Yet far from isolating the audience, Fire, Ice and Sky makes them consider question and contemplations they perhaps wouldn’t have. It reels you in and sometimes even fills you will a sense of sublime wonder.
Fire, Ice and Sky is an entirely unique and engaging documentary that not only exposes aspects of time previously unexplored in cinema, but also stretches the documentary form to unreached areas.