Mana: Beyond Belief

If I could choose to send one movie into orbit in the hopes of introducing any alien species out there to our species, this movie would get my vote. This is similar in some ways to Ron Fricke's "Baraka" and Chris Marker's "San Soleil", in that it is an omnibus of our spiritual life and its relation to things, people and ideas. That's a pretty big canvas and viewers might find the whole thing disjointed, but I love this movie for its audacity and for the very fact that it is fragmented. We are a fragmented species that in this modern age, often has to settle for a reflection of reality instead of the real thing (the Elvis impersonators and the Shroud of Turin being the most obvious examples). Why people will embrace fake Elvises while turning their back on fake Rembrants is beyond me, but such are the ways of human folly. Part of the film's audacity is that it often doesn't explain what we are looking at, and sometimes it seems almost confused about what it is looking at itself. A ceremony in Benin, complete with dancing spirits, whirling dervishes and a man with an enormous fake penis seems particularly chaotic, but I think that just helps the viewer feel as if they are really there. The film throws us off balance so we can almost feel like aliens from another world who have plunged to Earth and are trying to get our bearings amidst so much weirdness. The pacing of the film is slow but never dull, and unlike the 'mondo' movies, there is thankfully no exploitation here. The cinematography in this documentary is stunning; every frame could be placed in an art book, in fact I've heard that there is going to be a book of the film soon. If I had to complain about anything, it would be that I would have loved the film to be even longer and that the DVD has no extras, but the film as a whole is a terrific experience!

The panoply of human belief systems is infinitely greater than this film - or any film can present, but the sample provided herein is executed with great sensitivity and peerless cinematographic art. The comedy evident in some of the scenes develops from the activities themselves - and isn't forced by the producers. The 92 minutes seems to fly, and you may find yourself - as I did - slack-jawed by the time the credits roll.

We saw this film in a college art center seminar room with one of the producers (Manley) in attendance, and he stated that "...while this is a documentary, not everything in it is 'true.'" You don't really want to know anything about this film before seeing it. Just let it wash over you and let it speak for itself, as it does so eloquently.

Highy recommended...

This film to most people can be a bunch of colorful fluff with a few grains of thought. That is until the object or place strikes the head of the viewer. Then the film must be re-watched with the view that other observers see and feel what you just thought was fluff.

However, it could have been presented better. Is it just a place or an object that invokes a feeling or is there something real about the place itself?

Maybe it is because I live in America, However, I all of a sudden woke to the purpose of this film when they showed the Star-Spangled Banner over the Capital. However, in that segment, there was someone there to explain what we feel and why. Most of the rest of the film was background noise.

I cannot believe they missed Watts Towers. I grew up nearby.

To get an idea look for - "Watts Towers of Simon Rodia: Architecture" (1957) Simon Rodia's Nuestra Pueblo Los Angeles Watts District Landmark.