Samsara (Ron Fricke)

[Stay Puft]

SAMSARA
Director: Ron Fricke

IMDb page

[Stay Puft]

Saw this in 4K digital projection, which for the first twenty minutes or so was the most overwhelming, awe-inspiring theatrical experience this year. After those great opening sequences, though, the rest of the film just seems to kind of meander. It didn't seem as tightly constructed as Baraka, nor did the music and editing ever reach the brilliant rhythmic heights of Fricke's 1992 effort (though there are a couple sequences later in Samsara that do come close). Baraka also just has one of the best soundtracks I've heard, period, and Samsara doesn't hold up (nothing is as memorable as Wipala or Dead Can Dance). It doesn't really help that Samsara intentionally echoes Baraka at times, either; returning to the Arches National Park, or the Wailing Wall, and particularly Mecca near the end, didn't really do much for me (though there's one time lapse shot of Mecca here that is crazy awesome). Even one of the best parts of Samsara, the "food industry" passage, is an elaboration of a similar sequence in Baraka (the chicken farm).

But that being said, if you want more Baraka, this is worthwhile. Lots of incredible footage, and those first twenty minutes as I said are truly exceptional and a must-see in 4K if at all possible. The footage of the Katrina aftermath is sobering. Samsara also has something of a framing device, which is its one significant difference from Baraka, and it uses that to great effect. Samsara builds to a great ending, probably better than Baraka's in the way it manages to pull everything together emotionally, and it helps to go out on a strong note.

[The Bad Guy]

This film is gorgeous and mesmerizing. Everyone who wasn't fortunate enough to catch it in theaters should watch it in HD / Blu Ray.

[dreamdead]

Agree with Stay Puft. Several scenarios recorded here directly echo Baraka, which mutes their power. That said, Samsara is more abrasive in indicting different economies, including the sex industry, in ways that feel powerful and vital. And the way in which people are buried in different coffins--the gun coffin is haunting--meshes nicely with the juxtaposition of the gun industry. So in some ways the very prescient quality of the film stands apart from those sequences that are still far more "primitive" in their depiction.

I will say that the sequence with the monks using grains of sand to paint a picture was the most impressive thing here. And that Lisa Gerrald minus Brendan Perry can't quite replicate the magic of transformative music.

[Skitch]

If it weren't for one incredibly stupid, obnoxious, out-of-place, idiotic scene, this would get a perfect score from me. Yes, mudface.

[Rowland]

If it weren't for one incredibly stupid, obnoxious, out-of-place, idiotic scene, this would get a perfect score from me. Yes, mudface.

Boo! Mudface was one of the only moments that didn't feel like either Fricke copying himself or heavy-handed social commentary.

[Skitch]

Boo! Mudface was one of the only moments that didn't feel like either Fricke copying himself or heavy-handed social commentary.

I hated it. What I like about both Baraka and Samsara is that the commentary feels reflective; what people see or think it says seems to say more about themselves than any actual spoken opinion or viewpoint that most documentaries are comprised of. The mudface scene pulled me completely out of the sensory experience.