Very few movies can actually be truly inspirational. A lot of movies make you feel good while watching it. This is different. This movie can breathe life back into your soul. It will brighten your outlook. It will make you think and keep you thinking long after the movie has ended. And even the most bitter of cynics (like me) cannot deny it's beauty. It will always remain one of my favorites. I cannot make it my favorite movie since it is so powerful and different I don't consider it a movie but an experience. It requires just a smidge of patience to suck you into it. But once it does you cannot avert your eyes. The most spectacular images ever. Not an ounce of pretention to it. No hollwood bull. Brilliant. Moving music. Do not miss this!!!! If you have a DVD buy this one. Watching it on a small screen will severely cut it's impact.
Baraka
1992
Action / Documentary
Baraka
1992
Action / Documentary
Plot summary
Without words, cameras show us the world, with an emphasis not on "where," but on "what's there." It begins with morning, natural landscapes and people at prayer: volcanoes, water falls, veldts, and forests; several hundred Balinese Hindu men perform kecak, the monkey chant. Indigenous peoples apply body paint; whole villages dance. The film moves to destruction of nature via logging, blasting, and strip mining. Images of poverty, rapid urban life, and factories give way to war, concentration camps, and mass graves. Ancient ruins come into view, and then a sacred river where pilgrims bathe and funeral pyres burn. Prayer and nature return. A monk rings a huge bell; stars wheel across the sky.
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PERFECTION! ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.
Glorious!
A collection of expertly photographed scenes of human life and religion.
This is generally listed as a documentary, which is probably fair. But really, it is more of a work of art. There is no story, no political message, nothing we would call "documentary". It documents a broad swath of humankind, and even beyond humankind. Religion, yes, but also so much more.
What stands out is the quality of the photography. This was 1992. Maybe I am mistaken, but I do not believe we had anything close to high definition. Maybe we had certain narrow uses, like IMAX, but nothing like the standards of today (2015). Because of the improvement in technology, this is probably an even more beautiful film than it was twenty years ago.
we are all one people
Having participated in the production of "Koyaanisqatsi" and then directed the similar "Chronos", Ron Fricke made "Baraka", another wordless documentary consisting entirely of assorted images of the world. We see cultures compared and contrasted, and also the natural world contrasted with city life. There's all sorts of diversity on the planet that we call home.
It's a testament to Fricke's talent that he accomplished all this without even a syllable of narration. He and his crew traveled to every continent except Antarctica to show these things, as well as the threats to the natural world.
Basically, it's a documentary that you just have to see. An absolutely impressive production. Having seen this one and his previous work, I'm now eager to see his "Samsara".