Amy Liu, 17, Developing Virtue Secondary School, Ukiah, Calif.
“Samsara” interprets its titular Sanskrit word as “the never-ending turning of the wheel of life,” writes Amy Liu, 17.Credit...Internet Video Archive
Tibetan monks creating an intricate sand mandala. The wreckage of a young girl’s bedroom after Hurricane Katrina. Otherworldly Angolan waterfalls and hanging pigs slit in an assembly line — contrasting imagery is the driving force behind the intensely thought-provoking nonverbal documentary “Samsara,” the latest in Mark Magidson and Ron Fricke’s series of meditative films on the human experience.
Captured in 25 countries across five continents, the film interprets its titular Sanskrit word as the cycle of birth and death, the never-ending turning of the wheel of life. With no dialogue, no narration, and no specific social or political agenda, “Samsara” opens discussion on the countless dualities we grapple with every day. The hectic flow of train passengers and the stillness of natural rock formations, both captured in time-lapse; the unsettling mechanical whir of humanoids and the raw depth of a human face; dozens of children and adults scavenging through mountainous dumps of fetid waste and hundreds of inmates performing an energetic dance routine — “Samsara” takes away the clash within these dichotomies to showcase man in nature, the artificial and the natural, the beauty amid the ugly. The wonders, the horrors and the raw truths of the world are all there, in dazzling 8K HD clarity. What you make of them is up to you.
Even on the 10th anniversary of its release in the United States, the film remains a poignant reminder for us to pause in our constantly shifting lives and look around us. The awe surrounding the documentary’s aerial footage and exquisite time-lapse — captured by a camera specially designed by Fricke — may have lessened as drones are now widespread and time-lapse is incorporated into every phone camera. But the slow pans and close-up shots which linger for just a bit longer than is customary and comfortable leave you enough time to not only pause and soak in every detail but also to ask questions and to think. Why do we incessantly manufacture, consume, discard, manufacture, consume, discard? What keeps us going if everything we make or do will be lost to time? What does it mean to treasure the beautiful, the joyous and the vibrant in the face of inevitable disfiguration, destruction and death?
I could describe every scene, list every location, introduce every song in the stirring musical score that accompanies this masterful montage — and still, the film would be a fresh, eye-opening, and deeply resonant experience. Whether the scene is primeval and nostalgic or breathtakingly exotic, you will find a piece of yourself in it. Because more than anything, “Samsara” is about human interconnectedness, showing human nature as it truly is: beautiful, ugly and complex, but never alone.