Watch Movie: Skywalkers: A Love Story
Directors: Jeff Zimbalist, Maria Bukhonina
Writer: Jeff Zimbalist
Stars: Angela Nikolau, Ivan Beerkus
Skywalkers: A Love Story Review
A documentary about Russian “rooftoppers” Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, a couple who make a living out of unlawfully climbing to the roofs of skyscrapers and other tall structures, capturing unforgettable photos. But there is always great risk to their safety — and their relationship.
Director Jeff Zimbalist and co-director Maria Bukhonina cannily decide not to simply tell a story about this unusual phenomenon, but focus instead on a couple within that community: Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus. Apparently two of the best in the business, they are brought together by the same strange hobby and quickly find themselves in a whirlwind romance. Their love feels genuine, even if they both recognise the strength of the narrative that it provides for their hungry social media audience, and the unlikely couple selfies they manage to snag. “Now we were more than just daredevils,” says Nikolau. “Now we were telling a love story.”
But soon the honeymoon period is over and they are bickering on a ladder, a lovers tiff that takes on a different dynamic at 800 feet. So there are essentially two narratives here: an attempt to understand why these young people would put themselves in harm’s way, just for social media clout (at least 20 so-called urban explorers have died as a result of rooftopping); and as the title suggests, getting under the skin of the gravity-cross’d lovers. It all builds to one big climb, of the still-under-construction Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, the second tallest building in the world. It’s a logistically complex, legally risky and life-threatening challenge, which they plan to end with a Dirty Dancing-style lift, and achieve ultimate rooftopping renown.
And as the title promises, this is ultimately a straightforward affair of the heart. “Love is like heights,” says Nikolau at the end, finding an almost-too-neat parallel. “The fear never goes away. You just get better at facing it.” They are disarmingly sweet — and, as Dirty Dancing taught us, nobody puts Baby in a corner. Baby gets put on a massive bloody skyscraper instead.
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