"Samsara" is a visual and auditory wonder directed by Ron Fricke who brought us "Baraka" in 1992. It is a film containing a series of moving documentary images of different locales around the globe. Disaster zones, religious monuments, factories, cityscapes, lush rain forests; nothing goes unnoticed by the 70mm cameras that capture these sites in all there majestic, zen-quality beauty.
The juxtapositioning of different locales creates thematic motifs that build upon one another as the film progresses. There are certain sequences which are difficult to watch but at the same time you are transfixed by the way in which they are filmed.
At one point we are shown meat producing factories at various stages of their processing. From the cow to carcass to beef patties, we are given a glimpse into the many different stages of the production line. Finally, we are shown a group of overweight consumers chowing down on the end-product in a fast food restaurant. This portion of the sequence in shown in fast motion and we are given a sense of the sheer enormity of the amount of food that is being consumed by these obese people. This makes a comment on the state of North American fast food ingestion and when juxtaposed with images of poor countries of the world where inhabitants are close to starvation the contrast is all the more powerful and revealing.
The use of colour in this film is visually delightful. One section shows the construction of a huge artwork made of coloured sand by a group of buddhist monks. The attention to detail and the sheer beauty of the end product is all the more noticeable as we are given a look into the creative process that went into its development.
The music of the film is powerful as well and when accompanied by the images, it gives it a more profound and moving effect upon the viewer.
This is an engaging spectacle and one whose images stay with you for a long time after it ends.
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