Imagery and Themes of Baraka Essay

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Baraka -- Post



Ron Fricke's Baraka (1992) is a truly stunning experiment in documentary film. It provides no traditional narrative but instead invites the viewer to feast his or her eyes on the wonders of the world. The opening shots of the immense, snow-capped mountain ranges accompanied by the haunting flute-like, Oriental sounds of a musical instrument indicate that there is something more -- something glorious going on below the surface. The thoughtful-looking (with its very human-like face) monkey in the hot spring, the stars in the sky, the solar eclipse -- and the title card over it -- give the film its deep mystical quality: the substitution for narrative. Fricke is saying that this is not so much a film as an experience -- the viewer's opportunity to travel the world and see the marvels without commentary. It is a gift to the audience that is really unique.



The film is like seeing distant places in their natural setting -- the lives of others as they begin their day is what begins the film: Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Christians and others praying in their various places of worship -- never naming them or identifying their places but solely relying on the viewer to know or identify (or guess at) the identities of these groups: the mystical-spiritual theme suggested in the opening shots of the wondrous expanses is confirmed in these scenes.

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The film is showing human participation in the divine: the interaction between man and the mystical elements that surround him. Terrence Malick's later works (The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life, To the Wonder) all seem to have been seeded in this documentary: many of the shots -- the way they are framed -- can be found in these latter works of Malick (along with the same spiritual themes and motifs -- water, majestic expanses, prayer, nature, creation, life). The film's use of natural light and wide lenses is also evident in Malick's work (and it could be argued that so too is the lack of traditional narrative) -- so this film is very Malickian -- or rather Malick's films may be said to be very Frickian.



Overall, the film's uninterrupted exploration of human beings in all parts of the world -- and its exploration of the world itself -- is a welcome experience and one that can be had over….....

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