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Summary: Visual Poetry
Review: Think of poetry and it's relationship to language as the most potent, expressive use of language. Now, change the word 'poetry' to Baraka and 'language' to film. Baraka is a daring, beautiful, heartbreaking meditation on the separateness and sameness of people. It's a vision of the grandeur of nature, the depth of spirit and worship, the assembly line feeling of urban life. By all means watch this film, let it take you where it goes and your mind will be full.
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Summary: SEEKING TRANSCENDENCE
Review: "It's not where you are that's important, it's what's there."
-- Ron Fricke, director/photographer Baraka is a Sufi word that means "essence." It also translates into various world languages as "breath" or "blessing." BARAKA the movie (MPI Home Video) is a non-narrative tour de force of images and sounds that captures the sacred dance of life on our home planet. Filmmaker Ron Fricke shot this rich visual mantra on 69 locations in 24 countries. From the opening credits with dawn gilding the frozen peaks of the Himalayas to the fade out of the gracefully rotating starfields above the Egyptian ruins of Karnak's gigantic columns, we are exposed to the rhythmic designs of time and light embedded in our spaces, whether it be a wave of clouds cascading down the walls of the Grand Canyon, or whirling dervishes in Istanbul. World religions and their rituals are gracefully contrasted with not only the shifting patterns in nature, but also the sometimes disturbing but equally mesmerizing flow of human activity. The rituals and that accompany the Wailing Wall at Jerusalem are shared with the time lapse patterns of New York's subway riders, the unsettling symmetry of a cigarette factory assembly line and Calcutta's homeless foragers and so on. Butt dancers, death camps, stone figures, Tiananmen Square, volcano's fervent meanders at night, post war oil fires, mauve tinted bird migrations, a Tibetan monk rings a great bell -- the sounds and images merge and blend and eventually become something much more than their individual elements. Surrender to this extraordinary experience and participate in a kind of high, an altered state, that generates a sense of connectedness, dare I say, a shared, hard-wired desire to glimpse a Grander Design that runs through all. Baraka is a stunning film that is perfectly matched and greatly enhanced by Michael Stern's exquisitely designed original score that includes richly textured ambient, natural, tribal, industrial and religious elements along with his percussive, string and voice-as-instrument sweeteners. Language cannot do justice to this unexpected, amazing and dazzling film. It may not be for everyone, but for those who desire a meditative, provocative and spiritually refreshing recess from the stressors of the mundane and ordinary, it is highly recommended. And it does not lose its appeal with repeat viewings. The DVD release is a completely new, pristine, Todd-AO 70mm, ultra widescreen (2.20:1) transfer with very crisp sound.
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Summary: Worth the Upgrade!
Review: The Special Collector's Edition of Baraka is worth buying even if you already own the previous DVD version (as I do). I was disappointed in the previous DVD because I felt that the image was grainy. I even wondered if my memory of the original movie presentation was too rosy because the DVD image just wasn't that great. The new version erases all of my misgivings. The picture quality is tremendous and the upgraded soundtrack is also amazing. Buy this DVD! If you've never seen this movie, you'll be blown away. If you already have it, give your present copy away and treat yourself to this one. You'll be glad you did.
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Summary: Wow
Review: Baraka showed my places and things I never would have seen or thought about. Its hard too sit through in one sitting only because of the huge amount of diversity and different ways of life it displays. It has incredidble visuals and great accompanying music. The dvd could be sent out into outerspace for Aliens to see, and they would have a good idea what humans are about.
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Summary: Baraka finally redeemed!
Review: I was one of the first to buy Baraka on Laser Disc and was dissapointed in the transfer. I was one of the first to buy Baraka on DVD from right here at Amazon.com and was sorely dissapointed by the obvious retransfer of the Laser Disc master.
FINALLY one of the best films I can recommend has been redeemed. The new anamorphic transfer is very well done. The sound is outstanding. I can finally say buy it. Also it seems very timely with recent world events to sit back and see things from a decidedly different perspective...
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Summary: beautiful!
Review: This Video is a beautiful visual experience of the joys and sometimes pain of being a human being on this incredible planet. It is a visual feast, and from a design standpoint, very well done. Many cultures from all over the world have been filmed-natural events, indescribable scenery, and a poignant look at the human condition are all portrayed with remarkable beauty.
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Summary: Fascinatingly tedious or tediously fascinating?
Review: "Baraka" is well-crafted wallpaper, penetrating commentary, New Age balm for tortured urbanites, or overblown travelogue, depending on one's mood. The best way to watch it is with a sense of HUGE perspective (and patience). What the film is great at is presenting the vast multitude of global activity (people praying, working, and generally doing their thing) as a cohesive pattern that is now baffling, now illuminating. I ended up both dizzy and enlightened - as troubled by things going on in the world as I was hopeful.
"Baraka" is the perfect film for pointing out how confusing and seemingly pointless our world is... or it could point to our common humanity, whether we live in crowded Tokyo or the deserts of North Africa.
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Summary: A Cinematic Poem
Review: Most cinema is really just plays on film. Nothing wrong with that, but when one is evaluating the uniquness of the medium, even special-effects blockbusters can be thought of more purely cinema than, say, a Merchant-Ivory production might be . "Baraka" inherits its grammer from painting rather than theater, but understands its "movie-ness" as well. It could even be described as a visual piece of music - and here I do not refer to its excellently-integrated soundtrack - the experience is a visual fugue. If you're looking for thrills, seek elsewhere. This is a meditation, a quiet dynamo that will fill you with longing and amazement.
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Summary: A Glimpse of this Fearsome and Fascinating World...
Review: This is a video (or DVD) that in my opinion should be viewed by everyone at least once. Baraka is a glimpse of this fearsome and fascinating world in all its variety, or at least as much as can be documented in two hours. It offers panoramic glimpses of Mother Nature at its most serene and tumultuous, from ocean waves at sunset to bubbling magma pools inside volcano hollows. It shows humans/human existence at both the best and worst: stunning cathedrals and temples, slumming prostitutes and the swarming masses of consumers. The editing and sequencing are intentional throughout, from the opening shot of a white-furred monkey in a Japanese hot springs to the montage of human religion rituals juxtapositioned together, displaying the basic similarities of human faith. Children in Ecuador observing life behind protective bars; the dispossessed of India rooting through trash heaps to gather sustenance; a train of bugs swiftly crawling over the surface of a leaf while the tree itself is slashed down, another casualty of the Amazon...if a single picture is worth a thousand words, then the multitude of visual shots in Baraka could fill a library. Sound is mostly limited to the atmospheric music of Dead Can Dance, Enigma, etc., with a few notable inclusions: monks chanting in ritual, the clip-clop of a mule. There is no speech, nor is any needed. Personally, I had no difficulty identifying the locals; most are fairly obvious to the experienced eye. Buy this video. Borrow it from the library. Find a way to acquire it, and just watch...let the enormity sweep over you. Life is short, and has so much to offer. Baraka scrapes the surface and gives you a glimpse beneath.
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Summary: Spellbinding
Review: Upon first watching Baraka the viewer is likely to enter a comatose state; that is, if he/she has any wonder about the many cultures of this world and the energy which binds all. The music and imagery (which is all Baraka is) entrance into a tempo taking us on a voyage around the globe. The imagery betters a Best-Of Life magazine spread and the music sings with triumph, complexity, stillness and continuity. Watch it when you're relaxed and in the mood to submit your attention.
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