Baraka

Baraka (1992)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: Ron Fricke

Starring: Well, this is a documentary

From: Magidson Films

Here’s something out of the ordinary: a wordless documentary filled with beautiful images filmed across the world. This is of course not a new thing in films, with previous films like Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi being much of the same thing… or so I understand, considering that I haven’t seen either 80’s film before.

It’s difficult to describe such a film, as it could really be interpreted in any way, but I can tell you that you get to see such things as people praying across the world, various cultures and their unique dancing/ceremonies they do, horrific images from such places as Auschwitz in current (re, early 90’s) times, how chaotic urban life is, and beautiful buildings and scenery from all around the Earth. What I got is that while people from across the world are all different and some have much more hectic lifestyles than others, we’re all human beings on this planet and we have that basic aspect in common, but we also have such natural things in common as praying to whatever deity you believe in, ritualistic ceremonies, the capability to hurt one another and do damage to this planet, and you should appreciate this planet and everyone on it, no matter their skin color. It reminds me of how Edward James Olmos said in the Q&A I saw him at last month that he also believes that there should be no such thing as “race” as we’re all the same in essence.

What works perfectly with the images is the musical score by Michael Sterns, as it fits the different images like a glove, ranging from intense and moody to ethereal and peaceful. One can’t work without the other. I am happy that the director plan on releasing a sequel to this sometime later this year, called Sansara. That should hopefully be as great.

I do have to spend some time talking about the Blu-Ray of this movie, which is how I got to watch it for the first time. I doubt you’ll find a Blu-Ray with better sound or picture. No hyperbole. The case spent time pimping the meticulous work formatting this from its original 70mm print to Blu-Ray, and for good reason. I’ve never come close to seeing a better and clearer picture, and the sound was also of the same high quality. “Astonishing” is the best word to use to describe my first impressions. It’s something you NEED to get if you want to show off the highest capabilities of your home theatre system to your pals or what have you.

I'll be back Monday night with a new review.