Director, editor and cinematographer Ron Fricke’s Baraka (1992) can be a hard film to adequately describe to those unfamiliar with its basic concept and execution. When trying to give friends who have never seen it an idea of what to expect, I compare it to the BBC’s Planet Earth series. This is not really a good comparison but is an easy way to engender interest in those who might be turned off by an abstract description.
Baraka, while encompassing stunning shots of the natural world, is not visually limited to that context. It has no plot, narrative or spoken dialogue, many shots were created in time-lapse photography and each scene flows into the next in a montage fashion. Originally shot and displayed in 70mm, the unique filming techniques, enveloping score and beautiful photography create one of the most hypnotic high definition presentations to date.
Shot in 24 countries (including Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kenya, Nepal, Australia, Egypt, India, Poland, Kuwait, China, Brazil, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Ecuador, France, Israel, Turkey, Tanzania, Vatican City and the United States), across 6 continents over 14 months, the film follows in the footsteps of Godfrey Roggio’s groundbreaking Koyaanisqatsi (1982). This was the first cinematic work to pioneer the “wordless montage” techniques Baraka utilizes and upon which Fricke served as cinematographer. Koyaanisqatsi was shot in 35mm, and Fricke felt this format did not do justice to the subject matter. He split from Roggio going on to make Chronos (1985), a similar project dominated by time-lapse photography, in the IMAX medium.
While IMAX provided a bigger visual tapestry upon which to practice his art, Fricke was still not satisfied with the time limitations (40ish minute maximum runtime) imposed by the format. He decided to make his next project Baraka in 70mm, which had not been done in the prior 20 or so years and has not been utilized since (the exception being Fricke’s follow-up to Baraka which is titled Samsara and due in 2009). The film would require over a year’s worth of travel and shooting, and he could not expect (or would necessarily desire) financing from any major studio and thus could not afford to rent the cameras he would need. In what I consider one of the more interesting tidbits from the background story of the film, Fricke constructed his own 70mm cameras for both regular and time-lapse photography. It is the use of this format that captures some of the highest level of detail and visual information possible on film and thus allows this Blu-ray release to come to us with such astounding quality.
Baraka employs graphic techniques such as slow motion pans, time-lapse photography and film based visual portraits with imagery spanning the gamut from natural wonders (stunning images of an eclipse, the depths of a volcano, a thunderous waterfall, snow monkeys in a warm bath) to pre-modern rituals (Pygmy funeral rites, the whirling dervish Sufis, the hopping dance of Kenyan tribesmen) to the modern world (masses of subway travelers, factories and automation lines, traffic patterns). The few examples given do not begin to do justice to the wide variety of images included with the majority lasting less than a minute or some even 30 seconds (over the 96 minute runtime). The images float onto the screen enveloped by the stirring score then effortlessly transition to the next yet almost make you immune to the passing of time due to their hypnotic effect. What I find amazing is how Fricke pulls beauty out of the most mundane of circumstances with the repetition of apartment housing or the time adjusted patterns of people crossing an intersection being as mesmerizing as aerial footage of the Grand Canyon or a resplendent mirror laden mosque in Iran.
One of the biggest complaints leveled against Koyaanisqatsi was the “preachy” nature of the subject matter with modern civilization juxtaposed as bad or inferior to the more spiritual pre-modern cultures and natural world. Similar criticisms have been brought against Baraka as well. While I will not argue that a political or any other form of message is or is not contained in the imagery of the film, I do not find that it is necessary to expect such.
For my tastes, the movie is not meant to be digested at a conceptual level, but you rather should let the often gorgeous and sometimes disturbing imagery wash over you. From moment to moment, you will be provoked and challenged by scenes that will hypnotize you with their astounding beauty, elicit heartfelt joy or produce reactions of deep sadness. As I mentioned earlier, there is really no way for an abstract description to explain how this should work. Each person will react differently and take from their viewing what makes sense to them, but for me the images and sounds do not enforce a message but rather trigger emotional responses that can be profoundly moving.
MPI presents Baraka framed at its original aspect ratio of 2.20:1 with a full 1080p VC-1 encoded transfer derived from the first 8000 resolution (8192 pixel) scan of a motion picture. Obviously 1080p cannot display this level of information, but the logic was to extract every last bit of data from the 70mm print. The process of making the 1080p transfer over-sampled the 8k scan providing more detail than if sampled within the limitations of 1080 resolution. This Blu-ray shows the effort was well worth it.
Having seen Baraka on home video several times previously on VHS (in hindsight in horrendous pan ‘n scan) and DVD, I appreciated the film but always found the idea to be more appealing than the execution, and until now, never knew what I was missing. I hate to lean towards hyperbole but watching this on Blu-ray is like seeing it for the first time. There are a few shots in the extras featurette on the restoration where direct comparisons of standard and high definition images are shown that illustrate the point. The jump to high definition for this title is like removing a veil that was obscuring its inherit splendor and introduces a level of depth, clarity, color and contrast that justifies why HD televisions and Blu-ray exist.
Even if the concept of the film does not exactly work for you, the HD visuals should provoke a strong response. The “WOW” factor here is overwhelming to the extreme with this easily being one of the most impressive HD transfers of the year and the Blu-ray format to date. The sense of dimensionality present throughout is stunning with a depth of focus rarely seen outside of IMAX features due to not being able to be captured on 35mm film. Fine object detail is astounding balanced against deep, stable color saturation that just blows you away. Contrast is consistently dead on and black levels are dark and inky with no resolution issues.
I will not say this transfer is perfect and with a diligent amount of digging you can notice some slight artifacts and possible edge enhancement on the image. Plus at almost the beginning of the feature there is a scene of the night sky that seems painfully faded and grainy. I assume this was the best that could be done with this particular moment in the film, and it is so brief that you will soon forget about it. Any complaints about the visuals are so minor that I almost feel I should not mention them, as this is just plain jaw dropping visual beauty that demands to be experienced in Blu-ray.
As impressive as the video is, the audio is a perfect compliment of equal technical quality. There are two 5.1 surround tracks given: Dolby Digital and DTS-HD Master Audio. The disc defaults to the lossy Dolby Digital track, which sounded fine, but with the switch to the lossless audio the increase in detail becomes abundantly apparent with the range of the soundstage increasing immensely. I am a big proponent of lossless audio, but on many tracks constructed from older sources, the benefit is subtle and sometimes the medium can bring out inherent limitations in the source material. This is utterly not the case with Baraka.
Michael Sterns, best known for his ambient compositions, wrote the soundtrack (along with contributions from Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance) and Indian violinist L. Subramaniam) and worked on recording the environmental sounds for the film. He is also responsible for mastering the DTS-HD track at 96kbps/24-bit, which surpasses most HD audio available on Blu-ray. I referenced the dimensionality of the video and that term needs to be utilized again to describe the audio. There is a sense of depth and shape present that perfectly compliments the reference quality video with an impressively immersive soundscape.
The separation between particular sound elements is palatable with a dynamic range that gives any modern soundtrack a run for its money. All six channels are put to good use with an active engagement of the rear speakers and numerous instances for the subwoofer to come into play. Sterns’ shimmering score intertwines with “environmental” sounds such as the deep reverberation of a thunderstorm, the echoing bass of a chain-sawed tree falling in the forest or the multi-level chanting of an indigenous tribe to create one of the most impressive and enveloping soundtracks I have had the pleasure to hear. Not having any dialogue there are no subtitles.
I was not sure what we should expect for extras on such an unconventional film as Baraka. Considering that the previous DVD editions had at most an 8-minute featurette, what we are given here is quite impressive. There is no audio commentary, but I am skeptical of how one would work. It would seem to be antithetical to the nature of the film and details in the documentary work well towards what you would want from a commentary. I really appreciate that the hour-plus documentary was not chopped into smaller pieces (like so many major studios are doing) to make it appear greater in quantity than just a single feature. Both extras are in HD (with archival footage in SD quality) with 1.5 Mbps 2.0 channel Linear PCM audio.
Baraka: A Look Closer (1:16:23, HD) – An extremely informative documentary that runs only 20 minutes shorter than the movie. It is impressive that the crew for the movie consisted of only five people with four (Fricke, producer Mark Magidson, supervising producer Alton Walpole and key grip Bruce Simballa) newly interviewed for this feature along with musical contributors Michael Sterns and Lisa Gerrard. The documentary covers Fricke’s history that led him to make the movie, setup and use of the cameras, scouting of locations, efforts to get shooting permits, hassles with customs in different countries (including having to bribe an official), work to capture environmental sounds and compose the music and fascinating details on numerous locales and scenes.
As I mentioned I do not think an audio commentary would have been exactly appropriate for this type of movie. What we get in multiple shots bridges the gap between commentary and interview with some spoken critique over scenes in HD juxtaposed with the particular person being interviewed. There is also a good bit of archival footage (in standard definition quality due to the way it was shot) that fills in interesting background details. This is a painfully thorough piece with no fluff that compliments a film of this stature while being absorbing to watch.
Baraka: The Restoration (7:04, HD) – A brief but interesting piece detailing the efforts to restore the movie for this release. Apparently FotoKem is currently the only motion picture post production facility with a lab capable of producing an 8k scan of a movie. The process was done on a frame by frame basis and took 12 to 13 seconds per frame. With around 150,000 frames, the scanning process took 3 weeks after which the restoration of the film could begin. The digital file for the 8k scan was sized at an amazing 30 terabytes.
If I have any complaint about the release it is the packaging. Baraka comes to Blu-ray with an environment friendly, 100% recyclable, soy based ink cardboard case that utilizes no plastic. While I commend the studio’s intention, this is not a very durable way to store the disc. I have read comments online that others have had their discs scratched or the case crushed during the shipment due to its lack of durability. I have found the case to be stronger that I first expected, but my problem is it has already started to come apart so I have had to glue it back together.
Not everyone may find Baraka as absorbing as I do but there should be enough depth to the high definition content to justify the purchase. Some may find it enthralling and others may be turned off by perceived “messages” but the visual accomplishment should entice most viewers. If nothing else the film can serve as a disc to demo your HD system and does not necessarily have to be watched beginning to end as almost any scene will showcase the depth of the presentation (though I find it hard to watch only short segments as I get sucked in). The film is definitely not escapist or entertainment like much traditional Hollywood fare but is no less engaging.
MPI has done a tremendous job with the video and audio for this Blu-ray. The 1080p transfer shines and the audio is of remarkably high quality. I wish the packaging was a bit sturdier but if that is the best complaint one can find, it can be easily overlooked. Sadly I never had the chance to witness Baraka in its 70mm glory, but this disc is the next best thing. Fans of the movie who have only seen it on DVD owe it to themselves to make the jump to HD as the increase in quality is substantial. To quote Roger Ebert in his recent review, “Baraka by itself is sufficient reason to acquire a Blu-ray player.”
– Robert Searle
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