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Samsara, Ron Frickes Cinematic Portrait of the Globe
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of New York Times
Posted: September 10th, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/movies/samsara-ron-frickes...
The new film Samsara ranges across the globe: there are fantastical tiered temples in verdant Myanmar and glorious Japanese mohawks, the natural wonders of Namibian sand dunes and orderly production lines of modern agribusiness in China and Europe. The locations are unnamed, and a rich, varied score is heard instead of political or social commentary. One striking image flows into the next, loosely organized according to the cyclical Hindu notion of birth and destruction that gives the film its Sanskrit title. But in an era when the Internet and television overflow with eye-popping imagery from around the world, [Samsara ] is a twofold throwback. For one, it is shot in grand, rarely used 70 millimeter, a medium invented for [widescreen cinema]. In its mission, too, there is something old-fashioned about Samsara. Though touched with a certain spiritual mindfulness, the film is not intended to send a message. Thats a departure from similarly expansive, globally conscious nonfiction films in vogue now. And though [Ron Fricke, who directed and shot Samsara,] views the ambitious chronicles of Samsara as beyond documentary, audiences may approach that global tour with expectations molded by the flood of recent films that present Earth and its diversity as something in need of saving, not just gazing. The perspective of Samsara could instead be called cosmic, and its goals primarily aesthetic. Our film is more about feelings and an inner journey than an intellectual experience, Mark Magidson, who produced and co-edited the film, [said]. Were not trying to say anything.
Note: Samsara was the highest grossing documentary release of 2012. To watch this hauntingly beautiful and politically poignant documentary online, click here. For a treasure trove of great news articles which will inspire you to make a difference, click here.
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