I was expecting much more from this documentary. It feels as though the producers didn't trust my commitment to the potential of their film. I came to watch the daily lives of the Zen monks, but I was only given extremely short, trailer-like glimpses into their existence. Every shot, every scene, is simply too brief. The documentary attempts to provide a dynamic experience that contradicts the subject matter. Let me linger with the monks, let me take a long look at what they are doing.
Let me give you a couple of examples. The monks go out to pick tea leaves; a couple of minutes later it's already over, and the film is off to show something else. I don't get a chance to truly pay attention to the leaf-picking process-how it's done, what the plants look like, the weather conditions, how the monks walk from one bush to another. As soon as my eyes and ears settle on the task at hand, the scene ends, and we are abruptly dragged off to witness something else.
Later, we see the monks chopping lettuce for their dumplings. It's a lovely scene, and the way they do it is quite interesting to watch. However, make sure to focus on their chopping, because the camera shifts away to something else in less than a minute. And this happens for every scene, every activity and moment in the film.
Are the producers afraid I'll find this stuff boring? Why are they so hesitant to linger? People who watch these types of documentaries are not looking for an average Hollywood experience. I wish we could have watched the good monks chopping lettuce for a good ten minutes. This is why we're here. Please, let me observe their lives for a little while.
This hurried dynamic contradicts everything those monks represent and diminishes the experience significantly. We watch the monks sitting down to meditate, and then we watch them get up, but we barely get to watch them meditating at all. This, to me, encapsulates the issue I have with this doc. It feels as though One Mind is in a hurry, and that creates an odd experience, given what it's about. For instance, we never witness the changing seasons and the transformations they bring. Everything is quickly filmed in the same season. The filmmakers seem in a rush to pack up and leave as soon as possible. They're are either disinterested in the lives of the people they are filming or afraid that we are. By the end of this documentary, I felt a strong sense of scarceness about it.
If you compare One Mind with Into Great Silence, you'll see a world of difference, and you'll understand where this review is coming from. Into Great Silence feels like a documentary about monks, while One Mind feels like a film made by someone who wanted to quickly show us something and then move on. As far as I'm concerned, it's trailer for a film that was never made. Overall, I am grateful that One Mind exists and that I had the privilege to watch it, but I can't shake the feeling that this was a missed opportunity to make something truly beautiful.
