Samsara

A great classic art film!

Early in the 1960s, the world film market began expandinginto American consciousness. In addition to Fellini andBergman, there was a small sub-genre masquerading as"documentary." I remember being much taken by MONDO CANE,WOMEN OF THE WORLD, and most esp. MALAMONDO (1963), asomewhat artificially constructed piece which made meaware for the first time of the jazzy, haunting music ofone Ennio MorriconeNot many films of this type followed (it was a sub-genre,after all). Fellini tried it off and on - most successfullywith FELLINI'S ROMA - his affectionate, ironic view of theEternal City he lived in. The clash of culture - "modern vs. ancient"- was never more effectively captured than in the Iron Mole sequence,where our polluted air destroyed long-buried Roman paintings.In the 80s, thanks to Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass,we tumbled into the thoughtful, oft disturbing rabbit hole ofKOYAANISQATSI (Life Out of Balance), which used stunningtime-lapse images to show how the ever-increasing pace oftechnology might be carrying us to a most unwelcome place.Ron Fricke worked on this one. POWAQQATSI (Life inTransformation) carried this message/warning even further.In 1992 Ron Fricke released his own stunning BARAKA, the perfectblend of image, music and transcendental mood: a landmarkin the the slow development of the "image" documentary. NowFricke's follow-up - SAMASARA - has been released. It's a "trip"through gateways of color and beauty. It broadens the themes ofBARAKA with even more mind-blowing images, all tied togetherat beginning and end by monks constructing/destroying an ornatesand painting. (It's the "journey", you see...)Give SAMSARA a try. Disconnect your electronic whee-devices,turn out the lights, and melt into yourself as you let its incredible rainbowworld wash over you. You'll be surprised how mellow/wiseyou'll feel afterwards. Wine optional.

This is a gripping documentary with no words. Just stunning cinematography. See our planet like never before. Samsara weaves between many different topics and gorgeous locations to paint a picture like no other! It will leave you in awe. It will horrify you as well. Either way, I don't see how you can leave this experience unchanged.A few of my friends kept asking me, "Where is this?" when the camera turned to a new location, and never tells you where we are. "On the Planet Earth," seems to be the only answer. Its fun to guess, but I like that you can say that the world has these wonderful places, rather than that a specific country or continent does. On the flip-side, when the film shows you disasters from around the globe, it doesn't let you simply dismiss it as, "That country's problem." Instead, Samsara paints some universal problems for us all to work on.If you enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of our planet as shown in this film, you will realize we need to address the absurdity of neglect. Some of my friends felt sadness or despair, because they didn't know how to fix the problems themselves. At times, the enormity of a problem can seem daunting to an individual, but I find tremendous hope with the fact that more people are learning about these concerns. I especially feel that children need to see Samsara. Perhaps a few of them will grasp a way to fix one of those concerns in the future. Perhaps someone will rise to a position where they can address some of those concerns, and the viewers of this film will recognize the need to support that effort. Then we can all go back to playing video games, I suppose.

One of the most difficult reviews I will ever write:This is the most enigmatic piece of cinematography I have ever laid eyes on. The film transcends religion, language, ethnicity, nationality, and individual differences, opening the floodgates of higher thinking. I am a very analytical personality type, and this film is so many things to me. This film is beautiful, inspiring, uplifting, disturbing, upsetting, and agonizing all at once. Overall, the film left me feeling so far removed from the comfortable, routine of the daily grind I have been living in, and had me asking myself some very difficult questions, mostly, why am I here. The last time I felt this way was after a 3-month trip to Uganda for volunteer work in rural jungle villages when I was a junior in college. If you take the film seriously and really ponder it, it will shake you up and leave you feeling a little lied to by your own culture. You forget how wildly biased we all are, and how focused on ourselves we really have become.Considering recent events with the Zimmerman/Martin trial, the Boston Marathon bombings, and school shootings, this film really highlights how we fail to see how interconnected we are, and that we are all in this thing called life together. I could go on and on for pages about the many meanings that I derived from this film, but I won't. The important thing is that you watch it and find out what is says to you, what it means to you. I mean, wow, I just felt kind of blind-sided after I watched it, I really wasn't prepared for such a deep experience, and I think about it quite often, even though I watched it over 3 months ago.Definitely worth owning.Best,-Ben

Cosa dire... stupendo.

Otro imprescindible documental de Ron Fricke.Si disfrutaste de Baraka o Chronos, Samsará no decepcionará. Hay dos posibilidades: que se convierta en tu documental/película favorita del director o que, como poco, te parezca que está al nivel de las otras dos.9/10

All good thanks

Diesen Film kann man nicht wirklich mit Baraka vergleichen, dennoch, es ist das selbe Genre. Zunächst ein Wort zu den Wenigen, die diesen Film mit einem Stern bewertet haben. Ich bin davon überzeugt, dass kaum einer dieser Leute den Film wirklich ganz gesehen hat. (Nebenher im Smartphone gesurft?) Und wenn, dann mindestens im falschen, mentalen Moment oder ohne den notwendigen Intellekt, denn einige haben ganz offenbar überhaupt nichts verstanden. Wie hier teilweise bewertet wurde, ist unterirdisch und hat mit dem Film kaum etwas bis gar nichts zu tun. Wer erwartet, dass es ein Kinderfilm ist, der hätte einfach die Inhaltsangabe lesen sollen und wer in diesem Zusammenhang bemängelt, dass ein Hühnerschlachthaus gezeigt wird (ohne jedoch die Schlachtung zu zeigen). der muss sich fragen lassen, ob er seinen Kindern erzählt, dass Chicken Mc Nuggets auf Bäumen wachsen. Und wer sich über "langweilige" Musik beschwert, dem unterstelle ich, dass er nur die ersten zehn Minuten dieses Werks gesehen haben kann.Samsara ist ausserordentlich bildgewaltig und wirklich unglaublich informativ, denn im Gegensatz zu Baraka gibt es eine Geschichte und die Bilder sind in einem klaren Schema aufgebaut. Vieles kennt man einfach überhaupt nicht und auf irgendwelche "besonders" tollen Bilder zu verweisen ist nicht zielführend, denn diese sprühen sich durch den gesamten Film. Während die "Ein-Sterne-Bewerter" die wirklich abgefahrene Performance eines Künstlers als "wirr und dumm" bezeichnen, finde ich eben diesen Performer einfach nur genial und "echt abgefahren". Bevor ich mich in den vielen, sagenhaften, knackscharfen und oft sehr farbenprächtigen Bildern verliere, möchte ich den Film einfach denen empfehlen, die offen für die (sehr) vielen Facetten des Lebens sind, für die Welt an und für sich und - für die Realität. Samsara ist ein Juwel in jeder ordentlichen BluRay Sammlung.

Maravilloso, uno de los mas bellos videos que he visto. En una tv 4k se ve aun mas bonito. Ojalá hagan un siguiente capítulo o la hagan serie.