Baraka (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Baraka |
| Country of production | United States |
| Publishing year | 1992 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ron Fricke |
| script |
Constantine Nicholas , Genevieve Nicholas |
| production |
Mark Magidson , Alton Walpole |
| music |
Michael Stearns , Dead Can Dance , Brother |
| camera | Ron Fricke |
| cut |
David Aubrey , Ron Fricke, Mark Magidson |
Baraka is an experimental documentary from 1992 directed by Ron Fricke . The word “ Baraka ” in the title indicates the Islamic “power of blessing”. Fricke had previously worked as a cameraman on the film Koyaanisqatsi , to which there are parallels.
content
Baraka has no plot, no storyline, no leading actor , neither dialogue nor a narrative voice. The film is a kaleidoscopic , global compilation of natural spectacles as well as the fate, life and doings of man on his home planet earth. It shows processes from culture and technology and, like Koyaanisqatsi, also deals with the representation of landscapes, religious sites and ceremonies as well as pulsating cities, which were recorded in fast motion , for example to make the course of everyday human flows visible.
Twenty film chapters are divided into three main sections A1-A3:
- A1: Chap. 01-07: Nature untouched by humans - indigenous peoples with their rituals as part of nature integrated into them.
- Cape. 01 - snow and ice
- Cape. 02 - temple
- Cape. 03 - light and shadow
- Cape. 04 - The volcano
- Cape. 05 - The Galápagos Islands
- Cape. 06 - The Iguazú Falls
- Cape. 07 - Africa
- A2: chap. 08-15: Technology breaks into nature - Man's uprooted interaction with nature and those of his own kind - War and concentration camps .
- Cape. 08 - cigarettes
- Cape. 09 - In the bathhouse
- Cape. 10 - Traffic chaos
- Cape. 11 - mass production
- Cape. 12 - madness
- Cape. 13 - aircraft graveyard
- Cape. 14 - shadows of the past
- Cape. 15 - Army of stone
- A3: chap. 16-20: Old, still living cultures - stone witnesses of past high cultures - transience and the permanent of all human efforts.
Civilizational breaks and analogies are made clear by concise film cuts as well as preparatory music and sound transitions. The film also has some tracking shots that illustrate this, for example through the former concentration camps in Auschwitz (Poland) and Tuol Sleng (Cambodia). In addition to comparing natural and technical phenomena as in Koyaanisqatsi , Baraka looks for a universal cultural perspective. For example, the tattoos on the back of a Japanese appear as well as the body painting of the Australian Aborigines .
Technical and film music
The film was shot in the 70 mm Todd-AO format in the following 24 countries: Egypt , Argentina , Australia , Brazil , China , Ecuador , France , Hong Kong , India , Indonesia , Iran , Israel , Japan , Cambodia , Kenya , Kuwait , Nepal , Poland , Saudi Arabia , Tanzania , Thailand , Turkey , USA and Vatican City .
The score by Michael Stearns and the Australian band Dead Can Dance is very different from Philip Glass ' minimalist soundtrack for Koyaanisqatsi . Another part of the music comes from the rock group Brother .
In 2008, Baraka was digitized and published in a complex process as the world's first HD sampling in 8K with DTS-HD 96/24 Master Audio Surround Sound from 70 mm format on Blu-ray Disc .
In 2019, the experimental organist Mathias Rehfeldt released an album that was inspired by the images of the film and is based on the film plot.
continuation
The two filmmakers shot a sequel called Samsara , which premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and was released internationally in August 2012. The film was also shot on 70mm, but pursues darker themes than Baraka .
Web links
- Baraka in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Baraka on Films for the Earth