Product description
Directed and photographed by Ron Fricke (one of the main collaborators on Godfrey Reggio's 1982 masterwork 'Koyaanisqatsi'), 'Baraka' was filmed in 70mm in 24 countries over 13 months, and explores man's relationship with nature. Covering the ancient and the modern, the technological and the natural, the film uses music and images to chart the cycle of life and modern man's destructive relation to the planet.
Amazon.com
The word Baraka means "blessing" in several languages; watching this film, the viewer is blessed with a dazzling barrage of images that transcend language. Filmed in 24 countries and set to an ever-changing global soundtrack, the movie draws some surprising connections between various peoples and the spaces they inhabit, whether that space is a lonely mountaintop or a crowded cigarette factory. Some of these attempts at connection are more successful than others: for instance, an early sequence segues between the daily devotions of Tibetan monks, Orthodox Jews, and whirling dervishes, finding more similarity among these rituals than one might expect. And there are other amazing moments, as when sped-up footage of a busy Hong Kong intersection reveals a beautiful symmetry to urban life that could only be appreciated from the perspective of film. The lack of context is occasionally frustrating--not knowing where a section was filmed, or the meaning of the ritual taking place--and some of the transitions are puzzling. However, the DVD includes a short behind-the-scenes featurette in which cinematographer Ron Fricke (Koyaanisqatsi) explains that the effect was intentional: "It's not where you are that's important, it's what's there." And what's here, in Baraka, is a whole world summed up in 104 minutes. --Larisa Lomacky Moore
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- Language : English
- Package Dimensions : 7.3 x 3.8 x 1.1 inches; 6.4 ounces
- Director : Ron Fricke
- Release date : June 13, 1995
- Date First Available : December 7, 2006
- Studio : Mpi Home Video
