Popular reviews

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  Review by Julie ★★ 16

  While undeniably beautiful, this film left a bad taste in my mouth. Samsara is a series of images, cut together in fairly rapid succession, taking the viewer on a “global” tour of the “cultures of the world”. Some images are meant to be purely aesthetically beautiful (which they are), some images are meant to be confrontational. But as these are just images, without context, and in the absence of any explicit narrative, the meaning comes from montage, and I did not care for that meaning.

  Yes, there is confrontation, but there is also exploitation and exoticization. Unlike (from what I hear) Baraka, Samsara concerns itself mainly with humans. The near absence of white people, except for a few shots from…

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  Review by demi adejuyigbe ★★★½

  the really astounding thing here is the amount of trust from these different cultures that it takes to make a film like this. and also the buddhist sand mandalas. in a thousand years i wouldn’t have the patience or fortitude to go through the process of making and destroying a sand mandala

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  Review by bwolo ★★★ 1

  Cool feature-length adaptation of Madonna's "Ray of Light" video [THIS HAS BEEN A JOKE ABOUT TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY. THANKS FOR READING.]

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  Review by CinemaVoid 🏴‍☠️ ★★★ 2

  What’s truly remarkable here is that Ron Fricke has made a career for himself just by doing desktop wallpapers and moving screensavers. Well played sir.

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  Review by Vinny Simms ★★★★★

  how it feels to chew five gum:

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  Review by Graham ★★★

  - Intricate sand paintings
  - Unborn children
  - Buddhist temples

  Samsara is a moving art installation. A compilation of awe-inspiring imagery from around the world. A montage of beauty. A spectacle.

  - Egyptian tombs
  - Monolithic rock formations
  - Starry, starry nights

  While incredibly well filmed and produced, and stunning to observe, the film does not really have much to say beyond "look at me, aren't I pretty". Imagine a David Attenborough "Planet Earth" film, without the great man and you'll be somewhere close.

  - Hurricane ravaged towns
  - Religious figures
  - Sand dunes

  That being said, if you love beautiful things and like to see imagery of places far from home (wherever that happens to be), this will be worth a try. The soundtrack is wonderfully soothing too and I found myself more engaged there than in the visuals at times.

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  Review by {Todd} ★★★★★ 2

  "More than words is all you have to do to make it real,
  Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me" -Extreme (nif)

  - My 25 Favorite Documentaries: boxd.it/1SsHK

  This, officially, is the most beautiful film that I have ever seen.

  Ron Fricke searches 25 countries for the most enthralling imagery and movement possible and gives it to you with the best cinematography ever. At times he even shows off and makes a chicken processing plant and traffic look gorgeous. The complete lack of dialogue or narration threw me off at the beginning but by the end I was just staring, slack-jawed, overwhelmed by the pretty.

  Yep.

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  Review by russman ★★★★ 2

  Chickens should avoid going to car washes

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  Review by Andre de Nervaux ★★★★★ 4

  Absolutely fucking stunning.

  I look at projects like these and I'm honestly blown away, i never know how the fuck it can be made its truly remarkable.

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  Review by PTAbro ★★★★ 11

  While just as visually and technically awe-inspiring as Baraka, Samsara feels much more anthropocentric, which diminishes that feeling of universality contained in its predecessor. Still, for someone who does not usually search out documentaries, Fricke's two masterworks, coupled with the recently watched Bestiaire (thanks for putting it on the radar, Marcissus), have got me craving more non-narrative and lyrical films. I'm looking at you, Qatsi trilogy.

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  Review by Sean Fahey ★★★★★

  “Ron, what do you want to make a movie about?”

  “Shit, bro... Everything?”

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  Review by SUDHAKAR KUMAR ★★★★★

  Magical, spiritual, meditative and calming, Samsara is everything we could ask for - a wondrous, informative and inquisitive work of art. The richness, depth and clarity of colour and image achieved within the processes utilized gives birth to the most beautiful visual meditation that I have ever witnessed. In 99 minutes, Samsara achieves something approaching a comprehensive portrait of the totality of human experience.