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Baraka More at IMDbPro »

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poignant, mesmerising, like nothing you have ever seen, 24 September 2011
Author: Thomas Anthony Wells-Quinn from Melbourne, Australia

Whilst cinema is an art form, Baraka is a piece of art.

It is like no other film you will ever see.

The film is an extraordinary collection of sounds and images from across the globe. There is no dialog or explanation of what we are seeing. The images are left to tell their own story and take you on their journey.

There is no pretence to what we see: the viewer is invited to find beauty in dancing African tribesman one minute, then and busy pedestrian crossings in Tokyo the next, before being confronted by the harsh reality of peoples who must search through discarded waste to make a living.

Everyone will find their own meaning in the beautiful sequences, and part of the Movie's charm is this presentation of beauty and natural rhythms, rather than the documentary-style where directors hold the viewers' hands throughout the movie and tell them what to think.

Some will chose to be mesmerized by the beauty alone, whilst other will feel compelled by the movie's gradual move from Nature's beauty to the devastation caused by Human existence. Marvelously, Baraka does not require you to do either, challenging the viewer but empowering them to make what they will of the experience.

Baraka requires your full attention.

It requires total immersion.

Do so, and you will be taken on one of the most moving cinematic experiences ever.

Still underrated in terms of its significance, the film was originally released in 1992. Director Ron Fricke (who made was the cinematographer for what was essentially the film's predecessor, Koyaanisqatsi ) pushed the boundaries of cinematography and designed cameras especially for this movie to capture nature at its most stunning and profound moments.

The remastered Blu Ray has been painstakingly restored frame by frame, and now allows us to be properly awed by the original footage in our lounge rooms. Blu Ray and Special Editions include interesting discussions about how the film was reformatted to bring new life to the original print-an extraordinary and painstaking process that has given a magical result.

(As a side note, a high quality audiovisual viewing setup is also required if you are to truly experience the power of this movie).

To be gob smacked by such raw beauty and confronted by such compelling images is rare. Make time for Baraka, and you will understand what it is to be truly awed by the power of cinema.

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