It was Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz who observed that "it's judgement that defeats us". Many people felt that Baraka should have given more details of what you were looking at and why instead of only presenting images. But all the locations are listed at the end, it's easy enough to find out which location is where and any history behind it. Baraka is a film that shows you life, a wide spread of life, and presents it without judgement. This is what happens, this is what is going on in the world of 1992; what you make of that, think about it, feel about it, do about it - that's up to you.That's not to say that there isn't a certain amount of guiding going on. The central message being sent to us is a simple one - we're all the same really. Shots of various religions kissing venerated objects follow each other, shots of a Yakuza full body tattoo cuts to tribal body decoration. Everywhere people stare into the camera. There is no attempt to tell us their thoughts, their backgrounds, their lives. The point is to wonder.What you take from Baraka will be personal to you. Some parts you will remember better than others. You may return to it at different times in your life and find different things. You might watch it two days in a row and find different things. Indeed, the scale of the film is such that it really requires repeat viewings, there are simply too many images to digest first time through. And images is what Baraka is all about, each one a living photograph. Fans of Edward Burtynsky will be immediately at home here in some of the vast landscapes and the Asian assembly lines. Each individual scene is so precisely tracked, time-lapsed, composed or lit that it could stand alone. If there's one initial criticism of Baraka, it might be that 90 minutes of this is just too much. Repeated viewings remove this obstacle, however.Baraka was made in 1992, so already parts of it are lost to us. Kowloon Walled City, which appears only briefly, underwent demolition within a year of the film's release. The burning oil fields in Kuwait was a current political event. How stunning these images are to us today, but how much more so in 100 years? Really a film like Baraka ought to be made every 10 years, to help us look at ourselves and evaluate what we are and what we're doing.My personal answer is yes, absolutely. Though it was high-definition before high definition existed and many of the scenes and images are now familiar, a great many still are not. Familiar scenes may even give us respite, which allows the in between moments to hit us still harder. Scenes of homeless children sleeping against hot air vents, or of a burning corpse at a Ganges cremation, or of tiny chicks being dispassionately sorted and flung through disinfected steel machinery, having their beaks scorched and ending up as battery hens. Much of Baraka is beautiful. Some is unpleasant, some is uncomfortable, some is amusing. Often there is beauty in the sadness, or sadness in the beauty. Baraka is life; make of it what you will.

I first saw this Ron Fricke's documentary way back in 2006 on TV. it did make a great impression about being something mysterious but I couldn't pay serious attention to it owing to other preoccupations. The film, however, had always remained at the back of mind. So when I saw it for second time recently – this time on a large screen - I was awestruck by the sheer magnitude of the film that made me restless till I wrote down that rewarding viewing experience. When searched on the Internet, one gathers that the word 'Baraka' is a Sufi word - meaning blessing of God in the form of spiritual wisdom or the divine presence. And how truly and spell-bindingly this film brings out that essence even though not a single word is spoken throughout its entire length of 96 minutes! Directed by cinematographer himself, the film was shot in 6 continents covering 24 countries including my own and neighboring Nepal. Baraka showcases unforgettable snapshots and moving images that transport us to glory & vastness of nature, natural wonders, serenity, spirituality, sacred sites, rituals, prayers, tribal life, city life, industrial sites and also the man-made disasters that threaten the mankind as well as earth's other creatures. These powerful images establish the links between humanity and nature…how our own life style reflects on the natural rhythm of the planet. As the film progresses, these images begin to creep onto our consciousness, rule our feelings and finally evoke compassion. By dispensing with dialog or any visual text, this film gives altogether different dimension to documentary film making that defies the hitherto tradition. Music composer, Michael Stearns's hypnotic and soul-stirring music is the real icing on the cake. It combines visuals with musical artistry...a magical blend of ancient…folk…traditional…global to modern music. His music definitely deserves large chunk of success this film has earned.Not only the images are mesmerizing and a great visual feast for eyes but also the film is equally soul stirring experience that connoisseurs & film buffs can't afford to miss. Surely deserves 8 out of 10

The same comments apply here as in Koyannisqatsi. Yes, it captures a myriad beautiful things, ecstatic dances natural and manmade. Yes it shows conflicting urges in humankind for transcendence and destruction. It wants to elevate us to a vantage point from which to view a larger world that we would call spiritual.In the silent era they were making "city symphonies" to eulogize the booming modern city, this would be a "world symphony". But it eulogizes a simplistic view. It all issues forth from a hopelessly Eurocentric view that finds exoticism in faraway places, sacredness in monument, purity and ceremony to be the same thing.But see, spirituality is not sending a postcard back home from a temple you visited, it's learning to see this world anew, every small thing that you come across. It's an entire way of seeing. At the root of a transcendent vision is the Zen koan of koans, the question who is it that sees?And this is simply not made from someone who can see farther than the monument he wants to erect. We fly from the pyramids to the Angkor Vat to Persepolis in a matter of minutes, gorging instead of harking. We fly from tribal dances to the urban dances of traffic to the devotional dance of pilgrims around Mecca. We cut from Japanese businessmen in their modern hotel capsules to stylized shots of a Buddhist monk in the street with his alms bowl. Nature is never allowed to be itself, it has to be nature as we want it to be, a Rennaisance notion that is at odds with modernity. See, for this filmmaker it takes nothing short of the Taj Mahal at sunset to comprehend the world's beauty and nothing short of Kuwait oil fields ablaze to comprehend the destruction. There's a truly astonishing sequence of rebirth near the end, with a solar eclipse and an African dancer bouncing up as if a soul is leaving to return. But all of it together has the adverse effect. We see the mundanity of the sacred and not the opposite, which is the spiritual essence. This is a touristy view by someone who thinks that going to Bodh Gaya to meditate under the bodhi tree will grant special insight, that it will take nothing short of a sacred place. Either way you may appreciate this verse:A monk asked, "When there's not a single cloud for ten thousand miles, then what?"Zen Master Baoshou said, "The clear sky also gets the staff!" The monk said, "I don't understand why the clear sky has an error."Baoshou hit him with his staff.

Baraka means blessing in many languages, and this documentary uses the techniques used for Koyaanisqatsi, and it is not a surprise, given that Ron Fricke was the main cinematographer of that film, and directed this one in a similar manner, using time lapse cameras frequently. There is no narration, only music, mostly of the soothing Zamfir pan flute variety, and Fricke traveled around the world to capture worshipers at the Wailing Wall, natives of Africa praying to the sky, and other forms of religion that are practiced across the planet. The contrast of the major cities with scenes of men and women running like hungry little ants, with the serene footage of the beauty of nature works well. We also see the great destruction that we have caused with the rape of the earths natural resources. Maybe the leaders of every nation should be forced to watch Baraka, for a real education of what happens due to their careless policies.