There is a tendency for most non-fiction films to spend far too much time elucidating historical exposition regarding the legacy of a subject, working just to prove to audiences that such a figure deserves a film about them in the first place. But thankfully this elegant cinematic exploration of the spiritual icon Ram Dass does not oblige itself to such conventions. Instead the film is patient and lyrical as director Derek Peck gives us only what we need to know as we are seeing a man's world unfold before us, confidently allowing space for the deeper lessons to gently exhume themselves and offering us the privilege to truly be in the room with Ram Dass.
Peck's intentions are clearly not concerned with chronicling the details of his eighty-five years in this life, and there is certainly no interest with forcing a conflict-driven paradigm to the story, which most documentaries wrestle with. Rather, Peck's intentions seem to be more focused on pure presence. We watch a fragile man express a profound grace in the midst of what could be a tragedy for the rest of us: as a survivor of a stroke, paralyzed on one side of his body, with a band of caregivers helping with his every move as he miraculously insists to go deeper into his own spiritual practice with a warm smile across his face. His sagacity is not only in his words, but in his way of life.
Shot with delicate poignancy and edited with a visceral awareness of the senses, sounds and images flow like a benevolent memory, increasingly building a profound weight to all that seems ordinary, with a feeling of boundlessness bursting from all around. From tiny lizard creatures, to the simplicity of a meal, to an infinitely expanding ocean, we see through the eyes of Ram Dass and his world, sensing life where we may not have seen it before, blooming in places we would have otherwise taken for granted. This may very well be the last time we see Ram Dass on screen and this viewer is certainly grateful he has been captured not as a didactic figure to be idolized, but as a simple man with sincere compassion.
