Baraka - Um Mundo Além das Palavras

i've noticed quite a few people are sick and tired of the message this film was allegedly trying to hammer home. you folks need to relax. it's nothing more than a collage of images showing an extremely broad range of subjects. i personally thought it was extremely well made and i did think it was visually stunning and the music was also excellent. so it included kids picking through landfills. so what? it's something that goes on in our world and the director wisely chose to include it. i never got the impression that someone was trying to tell me that technology is responsible. it showed busy city streets, and it also showed serene mountain and jungle environments. was it trying to convince me one should be chosen over the other? i didn't think it was. it was doing what the film's creators were trying to do.... show various aspects of life. different going on's in our world. what was the point of showing jews at worship in jerusalem? what was the point of showing monks going about their daily lives? how about the funeral pyre in india (i'm assuming that was india)? people walking down sidewalks? was the director trying to tell anyone "technology bad!". none of these subjects have anything to do with technology. if you got the "technology bad!" message, then you're probably a little hypersensitive and are trying to defend yourself against accusations that haven't been made (at least not by this film). reading way too much into a collection of predominantly neutral and stunning images from around the world.

the sheen

'Baraka' is a work of art which rates amongst the greatest achievements in the field. As with any masterwork, it is something one will have to pursue. For those that seek it out at the proper time, 'Baraka' can act as a milestone of revelation. What the viewer takes from this film will solely be determined by the life experience they bring to it. 'Baraka' is unique in that it actually requires a commitment of time and concentration. This is a film that communicates its message without utilizing standard film language. Those that try to make the images conform to the conventional notions of Hollywood story telling are likely to give up in frustration. For a film with no plot,characters or dialog, it communicates an astonishing number of profound themes. Those who are familiar with National Geographic or the works of David Attenbourough will have little trouble in identifying the fascinating locals and tribes, but be forewarned: there are reasons that there are no subtitles or text on screen. Personal discovery is at the heart of the filmmaker's intentions. The ambient soundtrack by Michael Sterns weaves the images together on a separate plain, producing a hypnotic pathway for the images to flow. Once you allow yourself to be pulled along by this current of sound the images will link themselves together and the true revelations hidden within 'Baraka' will make themselves apparent. You may find as I did that your subconscious will be at work on 'Baraka' for many weeks after the experience, unlocking doors to a greater understanding.

When I first experienced (that's the most striking word for it) this movie at the Gothenburg Film Festival 1994, I was truly amazed. Never before - or since - have I had such an over all explain-it-all feeling after a show.

Ron Fricke has made a documentary about the World today for a day: starting at dawn with monkeys in hot springs in Japan, and the morning rituals of various religions. This is followed by the awakening of the human race, both in the big cities and on the country side. Brilliantly edited together follows every aspect of human daily life combined with the general changes of the planet itself and all the ecological systems upon it.

The over all glue of the story are the various religious rituals. Maybe this is my personal interpretation, being a teacher of Religion, but the only time giver, except for the turning of the sun, are the praying times and times of worship peoples practice around the globe.

My comparison of the film to the GAIA idea (that the Earth as a whole being a unit, a living organism) is detectable both in the way every different cultures shown are found to be very similar to one another, as well as the speeded up people at side walks and zebra crossings look very much like the stream of blood in the veins of an organism.

All in all this is a marvellous movie pointing out both the uniqueness of the individual and the unity with all people. Go see it - now!

(1) A copy of Baraka. Steal it if you have to. (2) The biggest, clearest TV you can find and 5.1 surround. (3) A fabulously-rolled spleefer as long as your arm. (4) Phones off the hook, and an empty house with the lights out. (5) A recliner with a seat belt. (6) 96 minutes of your time.

I am 30 year old factory worker who loves NASCAR and Hockey and own 3 carbureted cars - 1 parked in my backyard that hasn't ran in 2 years AND I could probably pass for the guy who might spit as I offer you confusing directions if you stopped to ask, but I have never seen anything anywhere remotely close to this masterpiece. It's so good that it runs through my head while I'm slugging away at work covered in factory germs. The Burgan oil fires (the fire we possess) to the Australian steel workers (our ongoing need to keep the fire going) to the Auschwitz gas ovens (what we choose to do with it) is pure cinematic genius. For me, the Whirling Dervishes forward is my favorite scene. Where it slides from the mosque in Mecca to the cathedral ceiling at the Vatican is absolutely mind-bending. I feel like crying every time I watch it, yet I'm not all that religious.

Aside from all this film brings with it, it's not for everyone, and I can understand that. I was 17 when it came out and probably could have cared less. But for a blue-collar hick in need of a shave like me, I'd take this movie to prison if I was allowed.

When you see it for the first time, don't ask questions. Turn the volume up as loud as you can and just watch it. Baraka will provide you with everything you need. 10 thumbs out of 10, and not just up, but way up. Can't wait for the sequel.

Baraka is an ancient Sufi word, translated as a blessing or as the essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds. With the theme of man's diversity and his impact upon the environment, Baraka is a documentary photographed on six continents in 24 countries including Tanzania, China, Brazil, Japan, Nepal, the U.S. and Europe. It has no story and no dialogue, yet transcends geography and language to provide a sensual and spiritual experience that enables the viewer to look at the world in a totally different way.

When the film opens, a lone snow monkey sits in the middle of a hot spring, biding its time. The expression on its face is one of deep reflection and weariness. When it looks up at the stars, then closes its eyes, shutting itself off from its surroundings, I sensed my own inner longing for the infinite.

As the film progresses, we see the edge of a volcano in Hawaii, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Ryoan-Ji temple in Kyoto, Lake Natron in Tanzania, and the fire plains of Kuwait, their oil fires burning after the 1991 Gulf War. Through Fricke's camera, we glimpse various forms of religious expression from the chanting of monks to tribal celebrations in Africa and Brazil.

Baraka is almost like an updated version of Godfrey Reggio's 1983 film, Koyaanisqatsi. Using speeded-up images of hectic big city life with its homelessness and deprivation, interspersed with mountain vistas and forests, it depicts the mechanical nature of modern life as contrasted with the beauty of the natural world.

This film allowed me to see things I never knew existed, and to glimpse patterns of interconnectedness and a sense of balance and proportion in the world I was barely aware of. I was moved to simply look into people's faces and have them look back at me, allowing me to connect with the universality of the human spirit.

Fricke has said that Baraka was intended to be "a journey of rediscovery that plunges into nature, into history, into the human spirit and finally into the realm of the infinite." Unique in its beauty, sensitivity, and perception, Baraka succeeded, in the course of 90 minutes, in moving me from the humdrum of everyday reality to a calmer and more spiritual space