Ron Fricke directed Baraka, a non-narrative documentary, often compared to Koyaanisqatsi, the first of Godfrey Reggio’s Qatsi films, on which Fricke served as cinematographer.
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Theatrical release poster
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Title:
The film is named after the Islamic concept of Baraka, which means blessing, or Baruch in Hebrew.
Massive Project
Lacking narrative or voice-over, the docu explores universal themes through a compilation of various events–human activities, technological phenomena– shot in 152 locations in 24 countries on 6 continents over a 14-month period.
The film is Ron Fricke’s follow-up to Godfrey Reggio’s similarly structured docu, Koyaanisqatsi. Fricke was cinematographer on Reggio’s film, and for Baraka he expands the techniques used on the former film.
Shot in 70 mm, it includes a mixture of styles, including slow-motion and time-lapse, for which 2 camera systems were used to achieve this.
A Todd-AO system was used to shoot conventional frame rates, but to execute the time-lapse sequences, Fricke had a special camera built that combined time-lapse photography with controlled movements.
Locations included the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Ryōan temple in Kyoto, Lake Natron in Tanzania, burning oil fields in Kuwait, the smouldering precipice of an active volcano, a busy subway terminal, the aircraft boneyard of Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, tribal celebrations of the Maasai in Kenya, and chanting monks in the Dip Tse Chok Ling monastery.
The film contains 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.
In another impressive scene, a shot of an elaborate tattoo on a bathing Japanese yakuza precedes a view of tribal paint.
Made in the 70 mm Todd-AO format, it is the first film to be restored and scanned at 8K resolution.
Sequel
A sequel to Baraka, Samsara, also shot in 70 mm and made by the same team, premiered at the 2011 Toronto Film Fest and was released in August 2012, but was not as impactful.
In 2019, German composer Mathias Rehfeldt released the concept album “Baraka,” which was inspired by the film.
Credits:
Directed, photographed by Ron Fricke
Written by Constantine and Genevieve Nicholas
Produced by Mark Magidson
Edited by Ron Fricke, Mark Magidson, David Aubrey
Music by Michael Stearns
Production company: Magidson Films
Distributed: Samuel Goldwyn Company
Release date: 1993
Premiere: Toronto Fest, September 24, 1992
Running time: 97 minutes
Budget $2 million
Box office $1.3 million
