Film Review Baraka by Ron Fricke (1992)

Baraka directed by Ron Fricke (1992) The title is a Sufi word that means 'blessing' and this is very appropriate as there are many images of people from all walks of life who pray and reveal their spirituality in one form or another. The images of nature at the film's beginning of snow-capped mountains and wheeling birds are backed by spiritual music which includes a flute. The snow monkey soaking itself in a hot spring appears …

…calamities. It tells the spellbinding story of man's diversity and his impact on the world. This is a film that transcends geographical and language barriers to inspire audiences around the world. Maybe the point's in there, our capacity as humans to wonder, to look up and imagine something greater than ourselves. It's fitting then that Baraka begins with a solar eclipse and ends with rolling star fields, likely primitive man's first hint of the eternal.