Line #41 Film/Baraka


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3	->''"If man sends another Voyager to the distant stars and it can carry only one film on board, that film might be 'Baraka.' It uses no language, so needs no translation. It speaks in magnificent images, natural sounds, and music both composed and discovered. It regards our planet and the life upon it. It stands outside of historical time. To another race, it would communicate: This is what you would see if you came here."''
4	-->-- '''Creator/RogerEbert'''
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6	''Baraka'' is a {{Documentary}} directed and photographed by ''Film/{{Koyaanisqatsi}}'' cinematographer Ron Fricke and released in 1992. Its topic is, quite simply, planet Earth itself, and the sentient species that calls it home. The ''entire movie'' is nothing but SceneryPorn. Imagine our planet filmed as though it were [[Film/{{Avatar}} Pandora]] and you're halfway there.
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8	Filming was done in 152 locations in 24 different countries around the world. In order to get the full effect, it was shot in the special Todd-AO 70 mm format (using a camera built by Fricke himself), the only film since 1971 to have used such a format, and in 2008 became the first-ever film scanned with 8K resolution.
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10	A sequel, also directed by Ron Fricke and titled ''Samsara'', was released in 2011.
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12	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant No connection to]] [[Franchise/MortalKombat a certain Tarkatan general]].
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15	!!Tropes featured in ''Baraka'' include:
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17	* TheEighties: The clothing styles as shown in the subway scenes scream this.
18	* AsideGlance: One of the Polish foundry workers briefly looked at the camera.
19	* BookEnds: The movie begins and ends with an eclipse and a showcase of various religions.
20	* CulturalBlending: Some of the music are played by instruments from different countries. A music piece would be played by various instruments.
21	* HumansAreFlawed: The coal-mining sequence implies environmental degradation at the hands of humanity, the chicken factory farm followed by an anguished scream from a Kabuki actress implies mass dehumanization and animal abuse, and the Buddhist monk walking down a busy street and ignored by all implies so many humans are caught up in their day to day life that they ignore humanity.
22	* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: Most of the busy, urban scenes take place in Japan, as do the assembly lines for computer parts that appear right before them, giving an impression of this.
23	* MatchCut: There's a few of them, which adds to the "connected-ness" theme of the film:
24	** At the beginning, the Japanese macaque in the hot spring suddenly lift sits head up and we get a briefly glimpse of the moving starfield.
25	** A Buddhist light offering is succeeded by an oil fire in Kuwait.
26	** A flock of bird flying away, as if scared off by the chanting of the Aboriginals in the previous scene.
27	** The cigarette factory, then the next scene includes a man smoking.
28	** A Yazuka man with tattoos all over his body and a South American native boy with body ornaments.
29	** Foundry furnaces in Poland are followed by a shot of the ovens in Auschwitz.
30	* NationalGeographicNudity: The children of Caiapó Village in the Amazon are wearing nothing but brightly colored sashes made of strings. One close panning shot showing them holding hands incidentally highlights that their genitals are uncovered.
31	* NightmareFace: The Kabuki actress after the chicken scene gives a truly horrifying one.
32	* NoPlotNoProblem: The movie exists just to show the world we live in.
33	* OverCrank: Used to place emphasis on mundane or even almost-fantastic shots, ranging from simple nature to coal fires.
34	* SceneryPorn: There are a great deal of detailed, lovingly-shot landscapes, ranging from the streets of Japan to life among rainforests in close-up.
35	* SilenceIsGolden: There is no dialogue at all in this movie, save the [[https://the-take.com/read/what-is-the-group-chanting-ritual-performed-early-in-baraka Balinese monkey chant]]. [[ExaggeratedTrope In fact, there is hardly any digetic sound.]]
36	* SlowMotion: Some scenes play in slow motions, such as a man about to ring a large Japanese bell cutting into a Kichwa Tembo ceremony where one person is jumping
37	* ThousandYardStare: Some scenes have someone or groups staring at the camera; this is most prominent in the Polish coal workers, who stare deadened at the fires as the camera drifts past.
38	* TimeLapse: With both high and low shutter speeds. Ron Fricke had 70mm cameras built specifically to do this. One such shot is in the World Trade Center subway station, with numerous people taking the escalators.
39	* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: Done over the opening title.
40	* UnderCrank: Used to emphasize unnatural humanity or the fast pace of life, especially in scenes of cities.
41	* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: The whole point of the movie.

Context Film / Baraka