Samsara 4K 2011 2160p WEB-DL

Story Movie

The film, shot entirely on 70mm film, is an hour and a half journey through the most amazing places on the planet (in total, 25 countries on 5 continents will be shown in the film). The action of "Samsara" takes the viewer to sacred lands and areas of natural disasters, in the heart of industrial facilities and natural wonders.

Samsara 4K Review

So, in order. The form is, of course, beautiful. 70mm in video, Lisa Gerard and Jivan Gasparyan in audio, the picture is like a glossy advertisement, the music is like in heaven.

The content is important, correct, although capitalized (at least by neo-Marxists, at least by humanists, at least by Lennon, at least by Buddha - whoever is closer to you). The beauty of the world and criticism of consumer society, mass production, alienated labor, the stone jungle, environmental problems, inequality, violence, fundamentalism, blind faith, lust - almost the whole set (well, except that politics that is not directly affected resents).

But the main problem of the picture is the total artistic secondary nature. What did we have before Ron Fricke's 'Samsara'? Quickly offhand:

- The trilogy 'Koyaaniskatsi' - 'Povakkatsi' - 'Nakoykatsi' by Godfrey Reggio, with whom Fricke, in fact, began his career, so one should not be surprised at the reproduction of the approach of 'global planetary cinema'

- 'House'

- 'Baraka' by Fricke himself

- The wonderful 'Life in a Day' (notable for showing all these macro topics through the most micro level of ordinary people who posted videos on YouTube, eventually collecting a bewitching mosaic of genuine samsara).

In 'Samsara', the same thing happens once again – both in terms of meaning and artistic approach, and even nature often repeats itself.

In addition, Fricke can be reproached for the weakness of the author's, director's component, for the clumsiness of the decisions that he uses to convey ideas. We will show the mass manual Chinese production of equipment - we will show poor Africans dismantling this equipment in landfills by wiring. Let's show the slaughterhouse, we'll make the quivering spectators terrifying - then we'll show fat people chewing hamburgers in fast food. We will show a chic hotel - we will show the slums. We will show the production of weapons - we will show a mutilated military man. Show the embryo - show the corpse. A more primitive way to express ideas is hard to find.

Fricke does not speak the language of film art, but the language of a school textbook. What is it, Buddhists call the sensual world of suffering, the karmic cycle of life, samsara? So, then, to begin with, we will show Lhasa, Tibetan monks, we will show the world, we will show suffering, chains of causes and effects, we will illustrate the cycle, ending with the same monks who will destroy the created mandala (which in reality symbolizes the very variability and transience) - this is even not metaphors, not symbols, but plain bold text.

But! Almost completely justifies the picture is the simple fact that humanity in the field of intelligence, spirit, responsible attitude to the planet and other vital things is not particularly progressing, does not learn from mistakes, jumping on the old rake in the Middle Ages, in the 21st century, people , in general, do not get smarter and do not get kinder. So what if 40 years have passed with 'Koyaaniskatski', if things are still there? Under such conditions, the desire to break through to the souls and brains with a crowbar seems quite understandable. Yes, clumsily, but on the forehead. Someone (judging by the same reactions in the audience and reviews) discovers some of these obvious truths for the first time, like schoolchildren or blind kittens. Someone cannot understand the meaning of the simplest artistic techniques (like the same circulation) or the meaning of the demonstrated reality (the same creation-destruction of the mandala - 'why the hell are they doing this?!'). So ok - keep it as simple as possible. Perhaps it will work, at least reaching someone.

A separate topic is the question 'who is to blame and what to do?', the question of causes and alternatives, conclusions and solutions. Doesn't Uncle Ron, with such a look of his, first of all run into banal overpopulation? What does it have to offer fledgling minds? Birth control? The resettlement of 'surplus' peoples in resource-rich freer territories-countries? Greenness and spirituality? Wise communes of raw foodists, growing grains and caressing goats, doing art and meditating? Remember-remember - in the 'cult' 'Beautiful Green', for example, it looked quite ... 'funny'.

In addition, sometimes it seems that Fricke's prism itself is distorted. 90% of the beauty of life ends for him in inanimate nature - on the dunes, mountains, starry sky. And he demonstrates 90% of the horrors of human life. As if the only logical way out is to wash away the tsunami to hell with all these ants or wait until they themselves bang nuclear weapons, and then nirvana will come in the form of a breathtaking glossy nature. But perhaps it is worth moving further from negative Hinayana Buddhism to the Mahayana understanding that nirvana is in samsara, that beauty can and should be seen not only in deserts, but also in stupid human digging? This, of course, is also present in 'Samsara' - in dances, in children - but in terms of the balance of beauty, there is a clear bias towards nature.

Be that as it may, the film is thought provoking, important and valuable, and even more beautiful, pleasing to the eye and ear. It's worth watching. Distribute and show from a young age (be it physical, intellectual or emotional age) - even more so. But, to be honest, probably, all the same, to get acquainted with the predecessors to begin with.

In the near future we will add this film as a REMUX