37. Samsara; movie review

 

SAMSARA

Cert U

114 mins

BBFC advice: Contains references to death, brief bloody images

I am 60 years old, and there is no way I could close my eyes for 15 minutes and not simply fall asleep.

Thus, when the message came on screen during Lois Patiño's Samsara, I dropped off and missed a unique experience.

Apparently, if I had stayed awake, I would have been able to see the link between death and birth via colourful images beyond my eyelids.

Samsara has received considerable acclaim for pushing cinematic boundaries, but I am not religious, and the movie went straight over my head.

It would seem I have missed out on a transformational slice of transcendental meditation.

I am happy for those who enjoyed it, but I didn't find a buzz from Samsara even when my eyes were wide open.

Its first half concentrates on a dying Buddhist woman in a community in Laos near the Mekong River.

That isn't too exciting because she does little more than lie in bed, so the camera also wanders over to Buddhist priests praying silently, eating food and washing in a waterfall.

Fortunately, I woke after my mid-film sleep for the second half, in which the film moves to Tanzania and the birth of a goat.

Presumably. this is hinting at the reincarnation of the Buddhist woman, although, obviously, there is no evidence to prove it.

There is also no particular reason to alight upon a far away Muslim community in juxtaposition to Laotian Buddhists.

Indeed, the only similarity is their simple life - in this case, where the women make seaweed soap and the men fish.

I would join others in praising Patiño for pushing boundaries with experimental movie-making techniques.

And all power to him for shining a light on people and practices rarely seen in the developed world.

But I needed to be into meditation, yoga or the like to appreciate Samsara.

Instead, I found it difficult to maintain concentration as the camera lingered long over subjects that were not very interesting to me.

It was all a bit of art, for art's sake.

Reasons to watch: A films like no other

Reasons to avoid: Could literally send audiences to sleep

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? According to Buddhists, 49 days after death, a person will be reborn into the realm of Buddhas if they have pure karma of body, speech and thoughts. If they have done many wholesome deeds in their whole life, they can be reborn in realms of devas. But if they have extremely evil karma, they will fall to hell right away.

The final word.  Lois Patiño: "The film celebrates the culture of diversity, and is an exercise in learning from others. It’s not about teenagers in Laos, and neither is it about women working on the Zanzibar seafront. It’s something else. 90 per cent of screens around the world show Western culture. It’s important to show different cultures." AnOther

Share this post