Samsara
Plots(1)
The team behind Baraka reunites for another journey around the world in Samsara, exploring themes of birth, life, death and rebirth through stunning visuals and music. 'Samsara' is a Tibetan word that means the ever turning wheel of life, and the film is an unparalleled sensory experience. Baraka director Ron Fricke reunites with producer Mark Magidson to expand on their effort to portray the connections between humanity and nature in a bold way. Shot for over four years and across 26 countries, the film transports us through multiple cultures to sacred grounds, disaster sites, industrialized zones and natural wonders. By dispensing with dialogue and descriptive text, the filmmakers subvert our expectations of a documentary. Instead, they encourage our own interpretations inspired by mesmerising visuals and musical compositions that infuse the ancient with the modern. Through powerful, breathtaking images pristinely photographed in 70mm and a dynamic music score, Samsara shows how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet. The filmmakers give us privileged access to profound scenarios. For filmgoers who cherished the revelations of Baraka almost twenty years ago, Samsara proves to be worth the wait. (Entertainment One)
(more)Reviews (3)
Two rums to room two-two-two. La-la-la, you moron. Something like that. I like videos with beautiful images and mystical music, but only if they are no longer than five minutes and aren’t presented as documentaries on YouTube. It’s pretty good as a source of wallpapers for the whole year, but other than that… perhaps it could be nice for ethereal philosophical beings, who may find a meaning of their choice and talk about it at length. They may find a profound answer about the state of civilisation. Or something else.
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Checkered to the point of often being more of a detriment than a benefit, and with a soundtrack that is no match to the visuals. That couldn't happen with Reggio. But it is still extremely impressive in more than one passage.
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The creators try to introduce us to interesting places in the world, and I must say that right from the beginning they choose visually fascinating pieces. We find ourselves in an Asian country (probably Thailand or Myanmar) and we are admiring a beautiful landscape scattered with incredible greenery, from which Buddhist temples and palaces emerge. It's almost like another planet. It completely takes our breath away to see the pattern being poured onto the floor. Critics will immediately think about what would happen if someone coughed while admiring it up close. But the view is dazzling, and I am amazed at what people can create. This also applies to further travels that take us to cities, or rather to abandoned areas where it is evident that people used to live there, but now they are cities and places of the dead. The creators - the cameramen - find incredibly interesting details that present us with both beauty and destruction. And the music adapts to that, always perfectly chosen for the particular scenery, as if resonating in high ceilings but also bowing to the ineffability of natural beauty. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/02/samsara-2011-60.html
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