Baraka

Baraka captures everything from famine, to war, to tribal rituals, prayer sessions, and the factories that produce much of the merchandise and food we consume today. Last year were focused a lot on  concepts much bigger than ourselves. We looked at societal flaw and the exposing of those issues in pieces of writings like A Modest Proposal, The One Great Heart and Lord of the Flies. Baraka does a fantastic job without using words at capturing the world’s flaws and making them clear to the audience without using. World Literature serves the same purpose and has become a way to create change in the world. The power of the images in Baraka can change a person if they are able to look at their underlying meaning. Along with this Baraka evokes much wonderment and compassion from the viewer. At the beginning of the movie there are slow and peaceful images that create an overall calm and happy feeling. I felt tranquility from the images of the Andes Mountains that captured the beauty of an area that is not highly populated. I got a sense of hope that the world is full of selfless people from the images of people in prayer that humble themselves before God. The image of the man who seems to be going insane shows the stress in our society and how we may be going downhill. There is a large flow of emotions that were evoked from the images in Baraka that no other movie has made me feel.

The most impactful images in this film were often the simplest ones. Scenes that got to me the most were the ones of the African tribes that gathered and danced, chanting and just being together. These images opened my mind and reminded me that my lifestyle is no better than theirs... it is only different. I think the people living in Boulder County get so wrapped up in their own lives that they forget that there are other people in the world that seem to be happier than us but have far less than what we have. The people in the tribes are content with their simple lives. A scene that angered me to no end was the one with the egg factory with the chicks being piled on top of each or and thrown around like they were stuffed animals. This scene made me sick and sad because our world has become more focused on producing and selling rather than quality. 

My ideas are somewhat similar to Brussat's ideas in that we both find sadness in the fact of the overpopulation and mass production. She mentioned she was humbled by the images of the tribal people which is the same emotion I felt during those particular scenes. The movement and music in Baraka directly relates to the images of the scene. When the music is fast paced and upbeat the scenes where usually hopeful and happy. The tribal scenes had music that was exciting and upbeat because the people were energetic and happy. The music became more chaotic in the fast busy city scenes. The music switched course and became sad and depressing in a lower key when the Cambodian genocide and holocaust scenes came around. I could feel the persons thoughts and got a chance to read their face when the camera slowly focused in on a individual's face. I got time to guess and try to understand what they were thinking.

I think Baraka is targeting the average ignorant person that thinks the world revolves around them. The film shows different cultures that hopefully inspire people to become more as one with the world and to see there is more to the universe than just themselves. Baraka reveals flaws in society so humans will hopefully correct them. This film is hopefully inspiring people to improve themselves and become more aware of the world around them.