Baraka (1992)

A collection of expertly photographed scenes of human life and religion.

Director:

Ron Fricke

Writers:

Ron Fricke (concept), Mark Magidson (concept)

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Storyline

Without words, cameras show us the world, with an emphasis not on "where," but on "what's there." It begins with morning, natural landscapes and people at prayer: volcanoes, water falls, veldts, and forests; several hundred Balinese Hindu men perform kecak, the monkey chant. Indigenous peoples apply body paint; whole villages dance. The film moves to destruction of nature via logging, blasting, and strip mining. Images of poverty, rapid urban life, and factories give way to war, concentration camps, and mass graves. Ancient ruins come into view, and then a sacred river where pilgrims bathe and funeral pyres burn. Prayer and nature return. A monk rings a huge bell; stars wheel across the sky.

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Plot Keywords:

human nature | environmental education | world culture | working conditions | environment | 

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Taglines:

A world beyond words.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Release Date:

19 November 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Baraka - Eine Welt jenseits der Worte

Filming Locations:

Rajasthan, India

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,250,322

Company Credits

Production Co:

Magidson Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The eclipse shoot almost didn't made in to the final work. The crew went to Hawai and had their spot on a hotel rooftop, but almost an hour before the eclipse clouds moved in and immediately the sun disappeared. Everyone in the hotel tried to find a better location and only the film crew stayed after a huge discussion. Minutes from the eclipse the sky cleared for shooting and the final result is in the film.

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Goofs

In the closing credits where filming locations are listed by country, Vatican City is listed as a location in Italy when technically it is a country in its own right. Although Vatican City is physically totally contained within Italy, it is an independent nation.

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Connections

Edited into Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable (1995)

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Soundtracks

Wandering Saint
from Expressions of Impressions
Performed and Composed by L. Subramaniam
Courtesy of Sonic Atmospheres and Sonic Edge Records

User Reviews

A Sensual and Spiritual Experience

Baraka is an ancient Sufi word, translated as a blessing or as the essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds. With the theme of man's diversity and his impact upon the environment, Baraka is a documentary photographed on six continents in 24 countries including Tanzania, China, Brazil, Japan, Nepal, the U.S. and Europe. It has no story and no dialogue, yet transcends geography and language to provide a sensual and spiritual experience that enables the viewer to look at the world in a totally different way.

When the film opens, a lone snow monkey sits in the middle of a hot spring, biding its time. The expression on its face is one of deep reflection and weariness. When it looks up at the stars, then closes its eyes, shutting itself off from its surroundings, I sensed my own inner longing for the infinite.

As the film progresses, we see the edge of a volcano in Hawaii, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Ryoan-Ji temple in Kyoto, Lake Natron in Tanzania, and the fire plains of Kuwait, their oil fires burning after the 1991 Gulf War. Through Fricke's camera, we glimpse various forms of religious expression from the chanting of monks to tribal celebrations in Africa and Brazil.

Baraka is almost like an updated version of Godfrey Reggio's 1983 film, Koyaanisqatsi. Using speeded-up images of hectic big city life with its homelessness and deprivation, interspersed with mountain vistas and forests, it depicts the mechanical nature of modern life as contrasted with the beauty of the natural world.

This film allowed me to see things I never knew existed, and to glimpse patterns of interconnectedness and a sense of balance and proportion in the world I was barely aware of. I was moved to simply look into people's faces and have them look back at me, allowing me to connect with the universality of the human spirit.

Fricke has said that Baraka was intended to be "a journey of rediscovery that plunges into nature, into history, into the human spirit and finally into the realm of the infinite." Unique in its beauty, sensitivity, and perception, Baraka succeeded, in the course of 90 minutes, in moving me from the humdrum of everyday reality to a calmer and more spiritual space