Baraka

Rating:
Summary: A True Masterpiece
Review: This is a one-of-a-kind film, literally. Regardless of how many awards a film may win I can always pick out scenes that could have been done better; except for this film. I'm still overwhelmed with the level of mastery in this film. The use of no words in the entire film actually adds to getting the message across. The camera shots combined with the music are completely unmatched. I haven't ever spoken to anyone who didn't love this film. The best thing to do is to just get it and watch it by yourself. It is definitely not a film that you talk during. I'm tempted to write about the content of the film, but I think it is better to be surprised because it is truly a wide eye-opening look at reality. It is such a powerful video that I'm going to buy another one just to donate to the local video store, because everyone on the planet needs to watch this. I highly advice everyone to make sure to see this film as soon as possible; it can give you a new outlook about life.

Rating:
Summary: ultimate experience in film
Review: Ron Fricke, the genius cinematographor from Koyaanisqatsi, presents a remarkable movie for those who dare to expand their minds and think outside the box.

Rating:
Summary: BARAKA- LIFE INTROSPECTION
Review: I bought this when it first came out on video. Some may marvel at the "technical" angle of the visual format, while others try to put the choreography in some sort of order. I truly believe it is simply an "experience". And it is different for everyone who watches it. For me, it is a reflection of how we, as humans, live day-to-day--from around the globe. It visually shows our splurges and excesses to desolation and disease. It shows common human expressions from a global perspective. I always walk away feeling humbled. The way the music is blended in is incredible. I actually bought this for my sister and father...to share the experience with them as well--they loved it.

Rating:
Summary: Stranger in a strange land
Review: I did like it how one of us said here that this is a film made by a director who is, although very talented, an alien.

There is this unhuman impartiality in the film that allows a lot of us to see it not as a message, but as a collection of unrelated beautiful and disturbing (to us) images, all of which try to paint for the alien traveler a picture of our world as inclusive as possible.

This view of life on Earth through an alien's eyes is somewhat distressing - it seems so objective. This film shows that nature does not understand, does not accept human definitions of right or wrong, ugly or beautiful, and it makes us wonder how much our individual lives and our individual values are really worth.

Rating:
Summary: A picture of the world
Review: I saw this film when I was 17 years old. The film can be taken two ways. The first, is that of a world moving from sacred harmony to a disconnected disaster(disconnected from what is left up to the viewer). The second way this film can be taken, is simply a portrait. Buddha said life is suffering---Charles de Gaul said happiness is for idiots. Simply said, the film grasps the forces which move beyond our ideology---the rawness of existence-- which one feels in the clouds flowing over the mountains, or the ancient chants, or the 4000 year old tree dipected near the end of the film. The film is not necessarly offering a dualistic choice between the de-spiritualized chicken factory and divine harmony, but may simply be a snapshot of life----will you embrace it--the cost is great--maybe your sanitized TV, computer games, or ideologies seem a little safer.

Rating:
Summary: Second time around and they STILL didn't get it right!!!!
Review: This film changed my life. I watched this in a theater and was completely mesmerized by its awesome scope. You can't find much fault with the editing, music, and overall presentation.

What I CAN find fault with is the abysmal transfer to dvd. Its initial release was beyond atrocious, it was excrement. Now, this transfer improves upon it, but when you consider that this film was shot on 70mm film, which inherently offers supremely better resolution than standard 35mm, and its anamorphic coding, the picture quality AGAIN fails to deliver. Who in the HELL was (ir)responsible for working this?

Not only that, but fans are slapped in the face with a meager 8 minute "featurette". THAT'S IT. Something this gorgeous and deep should have had so much more. Personally I would have liked to have seen a subtitling option naming the locations of each shot, all the better to appreciate the majesty and mystery of our world.

To the producers of THIS home video version: GO BACK AND TRY AGAIN!!!!

Rating:
Summary: One of the great films of the 20th century
Review: Ron Fricke, director and photographer of this film, was also the director of photography for the more well-known classic Koyaanisqatsi. For the many people who fell in love with Koyaanisqatsi and its sequel Powaqqatsi but were disappointed with the third film of that trilogy (Naqoyquatsi), you may find as I did that Baraka is the film you were wishing for and didn't get.

Like Koyaanisqasi and Powaqqatsi, Baraka is a visual and audiory feast for the senses and soul. A journey into the sacred and the deepest truths of humanity's connection (and disconnection) with the divine and with nature. You will be immersed in the culture-defining rituals of both ancient and modern traditions, and take and extraordinary cinematic journey through 24 countries on six continents. This is the kind of film that can, in 104 minutes, permanently and deeply change your perspective on what it means to be alive on this planet today. And then change it again on the second and third viewings.

Disclaimer: Many people find films in this genre (all visual and musical, with no dialogue or "story" in the conventional Hollywood sense of the term) completely unwatchable and "boring." You certainly will be disappointed (or at least disoriented) if you are expecting a film with actors playing out a "plot." However, if you can open yourself up and give yourself over to an entirely different conception of what film as an artform can be, you may agree that Baraka, like Koyanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, is one of the most outstanding and moving films of the 20th century--perhaps even of all time.


Rating:
Summary: Truly Life-affirming
Review: Go into this movie with a completely open mind and you shall hopefully experience the journey that is "Baraka". It truly moved and affected me, but that's just me. It could make one reconsider many beliefs formerly thought to be "right" or "moral" or "meaningful".

As one review described it, "imagine if alien beings from another galaxy reached earth and filmed what they saw on this incredible planet...That's Baraka". This is meaningful and breathtaking film that paints the wonder of LIFE in a moving and seamless way.

In the end, no movie I have ever seen can cause one to ponder one's own existence in this great, big, universe...As such, I believe every person on the planted should...nay, must...see this beautiful film.