Enlighten Up!

Yoga, which is a mind/body/spirit experience is practiced by millions. For the ones who truly take it to heart,it can be a liberating path to Nirvana (and we're not talking the late 1980's/early 1990's band here, folks). For others,it's probably a whole bunch of nothingness. Kate Churchill (the film's director/co-writer)is a long time follower of the path. She decides to choose somebody who probably wouldn't get much out of it,just to prove her point. She chooses Nick Rosen,a journalist,who decides to go along for the ride. What we get is a portrait of a man who seems to be more content with earthly delights, rather than the path to inner peace. Several visits to different practitioners of the various realms of Yoga result in interviews,with their individual take on the path (some seem to point out the physical aspects,while others offer their take on the mind/body/spirit triad of it all). The film seems to take a "road trip" approach from here (it was filmed in several parts of the country,including a trip to India to meet with several Yoga masters). As previously stated,the ones who truly take Yoga to heart,this film will be an illuminating view on a skeptic who is questioning it all. For others who view Yoga as a big bunch of bunk (as Rosen seems to contend),they need not bother. Not rated by the MPAA,this film serves up some rude language,but little more that would offend.

This is more a comment about a comment: The comment by "afriendofyoga" is full of weird projections onto this film. Almost every criticism "afriendofyoga" makes is tied up in his/her skewed assumptions about Kate Churchill's intentions. I saw "Enlighten Up!" yesterday -- Churchill clearly doesn't think she has any answers, the movie presents a wide variety of perspectives on the practice of yoga (some reverent, some practical, some skeptical), and the personal conflicts between Churchill and her "guinea pig" Nick Rosen are given a balanced and honest treatment. This isn't (and isn't meant to be) a conclusive statement about yoga, it's a snapshot of a personal experience. I found it more intriguing than the dozens of reverent beatific infomercials about the wonders of yoga.

The style of the documentary reminds me of Super Size Me, but this comes at it with a more personal angle and the documentarian(?) clearly is not an independent third party, but she is very open about her appreciation for yoga and her initial wish to convert others.

From her mission to reality is where the film takes us and the journey is very insightful, even if it relies too much on the personal stories of others as opposed to providing some more purely factual background. It's through those personal meetings and interviews that you grasp the present-day reality of yoga as opposed to a vague abstract.

Based on how deeply affected the few IMDb reviewers (so far) were by this film, I'm starting to think I should raise my rank (currently 7). This film provides a very solid foundation in yoga with little if any bias and does so in a way that keeps your interest, and what more can you really ask for from a documentary on anything?