Watching "Baraka" is a little like receiving a package of picture postcards with beautiful scenery and striking imagery, but with no greeting from the sender and no location information on the back. I was able to identify some of the places in the film, but there was no narration or subtitles to provide information and/or context on what we were seeing. It was like watching a whole series of nothing but establishing shots - the kind you get in a regular narrative film that helps to introduce the viewer to the characters and the story. Unfortunately, there was no story in "Baraka" and no characters, either, unless you count all the people who stare expressionlessly and motionlessly into Jon Fricke's 70 MM camera. We get speeded-up time-lapse photography of hectic big city life with its sweatshops and homelessness and squalor, juxtaposed with scenic vistas of nature's wonders, with mountain ranges, lakes and imposing ancient ruins - images that seem to imply the following simplistic message: "modern civilization - bad"; "primitive societies and lands untouched by modern man" - good. After awhile, tedium sets in. The widescreen DVD looked great, but I found myself enjoying the short behind-the-scenes documentary more than the feature. It detailed a little about the difficulty of filming in so many different locations and it was a relief to see something that puts you into contact with real life.
