Baraka

I watched Baraka again, but this time at Hollywood Theatre in Portland and in 70mm. I’m still blown away and even taken away by the scenes, the production quality, and the music. Nearly 30 years later, the film still holds up and probably will stand the test of time.

Baraka’s juxtapositions of old and new, poor and rich, fast and slow, big and small, regardless of when it was shot still has the same impact, or maybe more now that more time has passed. It’s impressive the director was able to achieve this.

There are no words (in the film). Ron Fricke leaves it up you as the viewer to make your own judgements about the world as its filmed. I appreciate films like this so much because it elicits feelings that the world is huge and complex (and doomed) but also so simple and happy at the same time. I found myself deeply moved and even contemplating things like vegetarianism, non-materialism, and religion.

As Roger Ebert says in his review of the film:

If man sends another Voyager to the distant stars and it can carry only one film on board, that film might be “Baraka.”