Samsara trailer (2012) from the makers of Baraka

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Something other than an IMDB link would be nice... I know the wide release is going to be digital of course, but I need to be convinced Fricke doesn't have a finished 70mm print of this in his possession.
 
XMonkey said:
Something other than an IMDB link would be nice... I know the wide release is going to be digital of course, but I need to be convinced Fricke doesn't have a finished 70mm print of this in his possession.
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Oscilloscope, the distributor, lists it as being shot on 70mm and then transferred to 4K (from which standard film prints were also struck for markets without digital projection). Whether Fricke has an 70mm print is irrelevant for the time being, since it will be many years before any sort of festival re-release comes along that would theoretically make use of such a thing.
 
I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility to have special 70mm screenings relatively soon if they have a small handful of prints considering the amount of theaters here in the US and around the world that can still project 70mm.
 
I absolutely HAVE to see this in theaters. I've only seen the trailer for Baraka, and I'm holding off on it until this one is available on Blu-ray. Speaking of which, have the Qatsi films gotten a BD release?
 
Pizarro said:
I absolutely HAVE to see this in theaters. I've only seen the trailer for Baraka, and I'm holding off on it until this one is available on Blu-ray. Speaking of which, have the Qatsi films gotten a BD release?
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Not yet, but being worked on right now. A potential release in 2013.
 
I can't imagine there being enough interest to warrant another thread beyond this.

The Cinerama here in Seattle was showing Baraka on 70mm a few of nights ago (couldn't make it because of work) in preparation for Samsara, and I'm still debating if my pro-film stance is strong enough to skip this one entirely. I haven't been to the theater in many months and it's the first recent thing that's gotten my interest.
 
Am I the only one that has checked it out? I saw it when it opened here last Friday. There's some incredible footage in the film as expected, but the 'mud man' will haunt my dreams for life.
 
Valkyr Junkie said:
Am I the only one that has checked it out? I saw it when it opened here last Friday. There's some incredible footage in the film as expected, but the 'mud man' will haunt my dreams for life.
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If you've seen Baraka how do you think it compared?

I wouldn really like to see Samsara in theaters, but unfortunately I don't think it's playing anywhere nearby.
 
Saw this a few weeks ago. It's magnificent, breathtaking and I liked how it used Baraka as a foundation and expanded on a few of the ideas in that film.
 
Kilgore Trout said:
If you've seen Baraka how do you think it compared?

I wouldn really like to see Samsara in theaters, but unfortunately I don't think it's playing anywhere nearby.
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It's definitely a continuation of the Baraka theme. A lot of gorgeous shots, but I think Baraka used its score more effectively than Samsara IMO. It's been a few years since I've seen Baraka though.
 
Edmond Dantès;41565841 said:
List of theatres showing it:

http://barakasamsara.com/theaters


The Apollo in Piccadilly Circus will be screening it in 4k this weekend.
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Playing in 4K in my city but I'm away on vacation... I hope it will still play once I'm back.

Still need to convince someone to see it with me.

There's a girl in my facebook who saw the movie in a sneak preview and warned everyone how shitty it supposedly was.
Anger... rising.
I didn't want to create drama and I haven't seen the movie yet so I had to shut up.
 
Watch it a while ago and really liked it.

The score by Michael Stearns and Lisa Gerrard is fantastic, although it's lacking something as sorrow inducing as 'The Host of Seraphim', nonetheless, I was still blown away by it.

The scene with the Frenchman is his office and his clay face was one of the stand out scenes.

So, another twenty years until the next edition in this saga.
 
Just watched it yesterday, I really liked it from its second half on, I didn't wanted it to end.

The second the soldier with the burned face appeared on the screen you could hear the audience longing it to cut away, I loved it.

What I like of these series is that they come like every ten years, so they are like the visual world almanac that is being updated. "this is the world we live in our decade see you in five+ years".
 
Just saw this in Ottawa, Ontario's opening screening for it. Holy moly, this blew me away. I liked Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi and the like, but this one just knocked me on my ass. I really didn't want it to end and I can say with confidence that it may be some of the very best photography and footage I will ever see.

Favorite film of the year so far.
 
This comes out here (Prague) tomorrow, is the only day for 4K projection.

Is it worth seeing it tomorrow just for 4K? Is that just a better resolution?
 
Messofanego said:
This comes out here (Prague) tomorrow, is the only day for 4K projection.

Is it worth seeing it tomorrow just for 4K? Is that just a better resolution?
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This will be the best way for you to ever view the movie, so yes. It looks great.

After tomorrow it will still be shown, but in non-4K resolution? That seems unusual.
 
Messofanego said:
This comes out here (Prague) tomorrow, is the only day for 4K projection.

Is it worth seeing it tomorrow just for 4K? Is that just a better resolution?
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this is the only one of these that i saw in a theater. The rest were shitty DVD quality. Seeing it on the big screen with fantastic sound was soooo worth it.


I know some of the posts in this thread are old, but the Criterion Bluray Qatsi trilogy is out next month... buy buy buy
 
Valkyr Junkie said:
This will be the best way for you to ever view the movie, so yes. It looks great.

After tomorrow it will still be shown, but in non-4K resolution? That seems unusual.
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Apparently 4K is 4 times the HD? Whoah, that's a lot of HD!

Excited, even though never seen the other films.
 
Baron Doggystyle von Woof said:
Baraka is amazing. Specially when high as fuck lol.
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Just came back.

Mindblowing. Life altering. Faith in humanity restored. Best film of 2012. All that hyperbole. I came out the cinema looking at people in a happier perspective. Guaranteed, you'll come out of this feeling like a hippie! It'll be a very easy movie to recommend to people. You don't need drugs, you can just watch this.

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That first bit with the doll-like girls has to be gif'ed! It begins the theme of uncanny valley which develops throughout the movie. This is the kind of movie where I will need to see the behind-the-scenes.

Going into this blind with just seeing some images and the trailer months ago, paid dividends. There was a good chunk of people (~40) for an afternoon in an art-house cinema. Yeah, go see this in a 4K-capable cinema. All those extreme close-ups.

Abandoned civilisations, current cultures far removed from modern society, settings so surreal that they must have inspired science fiction and fantasy artists. We already have Blade Runner. An African village that from afar looks like a miniature. Man-made marvels. Newfound respect for tattoo artists who make people look like living paintings.

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There was a recurring theme of uncanny valley. How do we tell a human is living? Dozens of humans are shown in extreme close-ups, with no expressions. Androids are shown. Mummifications. Life-size dolls. There were moments where I literally couldn't tell a human face apart from the robot's. Skin shaders, hair and eyes so close to reality, it's really scary stuff. That French sculptor (Olivier de Sagazan)who makes horror Pale Man-like masks on his face and constantly changes his identity also shows up. You only get to see his face at the beginning.

Now, what's up for contention is the showing of the modern world. You'd think the only exotic and cool stuff are from cultures you've never seen, that the stuff you already know would be boring. However, this spins a new light on how beautiful and unnerving things are in our side of the world. The good and the bad. The criss-crossing freeways of USA. Abandoned post-apocalyptic cities, I'm guessing from Hurricane Katrina. Dubai's Palm Islands and little pockets that look like a Giant's footsteps. Showing how chickens are herded up by spinning machines into tubes or gun manufacturing give me pause on what man can create with robot-like efficiency. These battery farms are alien to me compared to how our halal meat is made. Whatever is familiar to you, will be alien to someone else. Those people from other cultures must think our modern culture is exotic, too.

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FINALLY, there is footage of how beautiful Mecca's holy place is! Seeing people run around the Kaaba in time-lapse is like a whirlpool in the sea. Living there for 6 years, I always knew the call to prayer was like a beautiful song. The magnitude of how many people came to Masjid Al-Haram. But without an aerial view, I had no idea at the scope of it. 100000s of people praying in unison, going up and down is jaw-dropping. In terms of human scale, this scene along with the thousands of North Koreans doing martial arts and the Philippine dancing prisoners were the best.

The fact that I was able to create a coherent narrative out of this without any speech says a lot about the transitions, editing, soundtrack, and direction. There was a singer who sounded like Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance), and lo and behold it is her. It comes back around on itself, which fits with the circles symbolism.

My one complaint is, slow down the credits! I want to look these places up! Even just having images of the places on the side of the credits to know what scene was from where would be much appreciated.
 
Blu-ray release press release

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The world of nature, and mankind's place in it has never been so beautifully and dramatically presented as it is in SAMSARA, the breathtaking new feature shot on five continents over five years and created by Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, the makers of the critically acclaimed Chronos and Baraka. SAMSARA (a Sanskrit word meaning "continuous flow," referring to the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to a successful theatrical release.

This one-of-a-kind look at our world, from the peaks of the Himalayas to the depths of Yosemite Valley and 25 countries in between, will be available for eye-popping home presentation when it comes to Blu-ray and DVD from MPI Media Group on January 8, 2012, with SRP, respectively, of $34.98 and $27.98. The film will also be available on all digital platforms the same day from Freestyle Digital Media.

This unparalleled sensory experience was filmed over five years in 25 countries on five continents. SAMSARA explores the wonders of the world from sacred grounds to industrial sites, looking into the unfathomable reaches of man's spirituality and the human experience.

Photographed entirely in 70mm and transferred to 4K digital projection format, SAMSARA's mesmerizing images of unprecedented clarity illuminate the links between humanity and the rest of nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet. Neither a traditional documentary nor a travelogue, SAMSARA is a guided meditation on the current of interconnection that runs through all of our lives.

The Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert said, "It is the kind of experience you simply sink into." "You'll be moved, amazed, mystified," raved Salon.com's Andrew O'Hehir," who added it's "a poetic and impressionistic visual essay [that] offers some of the most rapturous images in recent cinema."

"SAMSARA stares at Asian temples, African tribesmen, and chickens bound for slaughter with the same blank eye," said Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly. "Visually breathtaking. Unlike anything you will ever see," raved Katie Walsh of Indiewire.com. And the New York Daily News' Elizabeth Weitzman said, "Fricke and Magidson have found some extraordinary beauty."
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January 8, 2013.



Tacky cover in comparison to the Baraka home release.

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14th Jan here in the UK. Glad it's coming out fairly quickly. Wanted to see it at the cinema but no cinema near me was showing it. Films like this make me want to have my own cinema at home! Looking forward to Life of Pi when it gets a Blu-ray release, too.
 
I saw this at a local theater a few months back. simply amazing. there were moments where I had tears in my eyes. the human race is fascinating
 
Samsara Blu-ray review
Samsara is gorgeous and thought-provoking, even more so than Baraka, Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson's previous non-verbal documentary film. I went in expecting more of the same—a contemplative experience with trance-inducing imagery of the natural and manmade world—and I definitely got that, but I also got a more meaningful, even-handed look at humanity, its triumphs and failures, its depth and variations and universality. On top of that, Samsara might just be the most jaw-dropping high definition experience yet, unrivaled in clarity and color. (I'm withholding final judgement until I see the Blu-ray of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, which was also shot on 70mm.) I know we're early in the year, but I'm fairly confident Samsara will go down as one of the best Blu-ray releases of 2013. Highly recommended!
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Review

Screencaps

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That scene disturbed me greatly :/

I'm still not convinced its a better film than Baraka. There seemed to be too much dead time with all the landscapes at the start. These films are at their best when showing people.
 
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