Baraka
Samantha Rose
English 1020
Philosophy in Images Francis Ford Coppola once said, “A number of images put together a certain way become something quite above and beyond what any of them are individually.” That is the essence of the movie Baraka (1992), a compilation of images that alone would mean something, but together they move you and make you think. The movie did that to me, from the images as a well as some of the individual images shown throughout. I will be discussing what the director, Ron Fricke, was trying to convey when he made this movie. I will touch on what exactly it is he is trying to convey with specific images that were in the movie. I feel as though the director was trying to convey the message that life is too busy. That we need to slow down and go back to our religious roots, back to relaxation and less hectic lives. The image of the monkey shows just that. The monkey is in his natural setting, just taking in what is around and relaxing. I feel as though Fricke is trying to really drill that into the images throughout the whole movie. Blogger Jimmy_U said, “The meaning that I get from this film is that we are all slowly killing ourselves and we are not realizing it. Many people live in harmony and try to harm this earth as little as possible. Others ruin and pollute this earth just to make some money,” (artofvideo.blogspot.com). The image of the airplanes all lined up shows how dependant we are on these forms of transportation here in America. The location here is Airfield Davis Monthan, Tucson, N32-11-W110-53 (spiritiofbaraka.com). I feel as though the director also wanted us to see how as Americans we always want to go somewhere else and leave home so often. There are so many airplanes that are most likely used on a daily basis. These planes are from the military however and they are stored here because they are no longer in use. I feel like Fricke also wanted us to see how much waste we are creating. These planes are
English 1020
Philosophy in Images Francis Ford Coppola once said, “A number of images put together a certain way become something quite above and beyond what any of them are individually.” That is the essence of the movie Baraka (1992), a compilation of images that alone would mean something, but together they move you and make you think. The movie did that to me, from the images as a well as some of the individual images shown throughout. I will be discussing what the director, Ron Fricke, was trying to convey when he made this movie. I will touch on what exactly it is he is trying to convey with specific images that were in the movie. I feel as though the director was trying to convey the message that life is too busy. That we need to slow down and go back to our religious roots, back to relaxation and less hectic lives. The image of the monkey shows just that. The monkey is in his natural setting, just taking in what is around and relaxing. I feel as though Fricke is trying to really drill that into the images throughout the whole movie. Blogger Jimmy_U said, “The meaning that I get from this film is that we are all slowly killing ourselves and we are not realizing it. Many people live in harmony and try to harm this earth as little as possible. Others ruin and pollute this earth just to make some money,” (artofvideo.blogspot.com). The image of the airplanes all lined up shows how dependant we are on these forms of transportation here in America. The location here is Airfield Davis Monthan, Tucson, N32-11-W110-53 (spiritiofbaraka.com). I feel as though the director also wanted us to see how as Americans we always want to go somewhere else and leave home so often. There are so many airplanes that are most likely used on a daily basis. These planes are from the military however and they are stored here because they are no longer in use. I feel like Fricke also wanted us to see how much waste we are creating. These planes are
Cited: "Baraka and the Power of Images." Art of Video and IB Film. 20 June 2006. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. <http://artofvideo.blogspot.com/2006/06/baraka-and-power-of-images.html>. "Baraka - a Nonverbal Film by Ron Fricke | Spirit of Baraka." Spirit of Baraka | Celebrating Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi and Other Non-verbal Films. 17 July 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. <http://www.spiritofbaraka.com/baraka>.