How would you feel if you were brought to a museum where you saw a lot of beautiful things, but none of them had signs? You would not be able to tell who made a specific painting or what the story was behind that wooden fork you just saw. Would you be able to enjoy that visit or would you quickly lose interest? That’s the question that came up when I was watching Samsara, which is best described as a documentary which takes the viewer on a journey around the world. Often you will not have an idea where in the world you are though.
Shot in 25 different countries over the course of 5 years, this movie has a varied menu for the viewer. It shows Tibetan monks creating beautiful “sand paintings”, the damage caused by Katrina, natural landscapes and much, much more. Samsara means “continuous flow” and that’s exactly what the movie offers. There is no narrative to latch on to, no specific themes and no climax at the end. It is just beautiful imagery accompanied by, which I would describe as, new age music.
During the first 40 minutes or so I kept wondering what this was all about, wanting more information, wanting a narrative. What was it that this movie was offering me besides some (very) nice imagery and some meditation music? I kept contemplating if I should turn it off, but after those 40 minutes those thoughts left me and the movie got a hold on me. It was almost like moth being pulled towards a flame, I stopped thinking about what I saw and just experienced it and after it finished I have to say I quite enjoyed that. Samsara is not something everyone will be able to enjoy or appreciate, like being dumped in a museum without signs, but I learned to appreciate things just for what they were: beautiful and hypnotizing.
When I watched it, I felt it was a sort of circular journey, birth, nature, beauty, to the man made world, to the ugliness, to death, and back again. Although the second time I saw it, I did start to get a little fidgety towards the end so it lost a very little on a second viewing. Still, loved it! I really want to see Baraka now.
You got more out of it than I did (I didn’t experience that circular journey). I can imagine it not working if you see it a couple of times in a short period. I do want to check out Baraka as well.
I really want to see it. I loved Baraka, so I’m very interesting in watching it, since I missed its brief theater run. Nice review.
Thanks a lot, it is well worth watching.
Wow, I don’t know if I can take 40 minutes without narration. But I never tried. Nice review!
Well, sometimes you just have to try out new things!
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