Films & Architecture: "Baraka"

Let us know your thoughts about this never ending contrasts between artificial/natural, and ancient/contemporary environments.

MAIN INFO

Original title: Baraka Year: 1992 Runtime: 96 min. Country: United States Director: Ron Fricke Writer: Constantine Nicholas, Genevieve Nicholas Soundtrack: Lisa Gerrard, Brendan Perry, Michael Stearns (Dead Can Dance)

PLOT

Baraka has no plot, no storyline, no actors, no dialogue nor any voice-over. Instead, the film uses themes to present new steps and evoke emotion through pure cinema. Baraka is a kaleidoscopic, global compilation of both natural events and by fate, life and activities of humanity on Earth. Baraka’s subject matter has some similarities to Koyaanisqatsi—including footage of various landscapes, churches, ruins, religious ceremonies, and cities thrumming with life, filmed using time-lapse photography in order to capture the great pulse of humanity as it flocks and swarms in daily activity.

The film features a number of long tracking shots through various settings, including Auschwitz and Tuol Sleng: over photos of the people involved, past skulls stacked in a room, to a spread of bones. Like Koyaanisqatsi, Baraka compares natural and technological phenomena. It also seeks a universal cultural perspective: a shot of an elaborate tattoo on a bathing Japanese yakuza precedes a view of tribal paint.

TRAILER

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About this author
Cite: Daniel Portilla. "Films & Architecture: "Baraka"" 04 Sep 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/269357/films-architecture-baraka> ISSN 0719-8884

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