User Reviews

Based on the autobiographical book of the same name, Peter Brooks' Meetings With Remarkable Men is the story of the early years of Russian philosopher and magician George Gurdjieff and the people that led him to become a spiritual seeker and an inspiration to devoted followers around the world. Filmed in the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan, a Russian Prince (Terrence Stamp) directs Gurdjieff (Dragan Maksimovic) and a group of seekers to search for the teachings of an ancient Russian brotherhood called the Sarmound. The adventure leads them through the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas to a monastery where Gurdjieff learns self-expression through dancing and body movement, a technique he taught his followers many years later.

If enlightenment means anything, it means to "lighten up", but this bio-pic of Gurdjieff's coming of age is heavy and significant, reducing the life of a man of exuberance to ponderous banality. The characters walk zombie-like through their lines, never allowing any hint of joy in being alive and the stilted dialogue sounds like a cross between the spiritual kitsch of Lost Horizon and Star Wars. Filming this outstanding book, I'm afraid, requires a visionary who is able to convey its meaning with suggestion, poetry, and a touch of cinematic magic -- sadly lacking here.

I echo other reviewers in their description of this as a film for those who are spiritual seekers. Others will probably find it rather slow and dull.

One of the main points of Gurdjieff's philosophy is that most people are asleep. This film depicts the effort it takes to become, and to stay, awake.

My impression is that this is a film by someone who has studied what Gurdieff said about himself and his philosophy (Try 'All and Everything' if you want to get into the details of that), but not what others have said about him. The more you get to know what those who knew him said about him, the less likely you would be to present him in such a rosy light. Frankly, he comes across as a bit of a git who used some rather naive spiritual seekers to his own ends.

I enjoyed the movie, but see it as something of a positive skimming over Gurdjieff's early years.

A major figure of world theater, Peter Brook made three notable motion pictures during the 1960s ("Moderato cantabile" in 1960, based on a novel by Marguerite Duras; in 1963, "Lord of the Flies", from William Golding's novel; and the highly praised filmization of his already acclaimed stage version of Peter Weiss' play, "Marat/Sade", in 1966). A project based on the biography of the spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff, detailing his search for the information that would serve as base for the development of the so-called Fourth Way to enlightenment (a path that does not have a defined step-by-step itinerary, but that must be found and built by each individual), resulted in an interesting film that starts beautifully with a mysterious and fascinating sequence, illustrating a competition in the mountains in which the award is given to the musician that can make the mountains "react" in harmony to the music notes. Following Gurdjieff as he grows up and leaves his father's home, the film logically has the structure of a road movie, making his trip an entertaining voyage of ethnic, cultural and self-discovery (with a parade of solid actors in key roles). It becomes very disappointing as Gurdjieff lastly reaches the monastery of the Sarmoung Brotherhood, a place high in the Asian mountains where he is taken blindfolded, and where he supposedly obtained arcane knowledge from this secret society for his life project. Not that I as spectator was waiting for the revelation of the truth of all truths, but although it is known that his teachings dealt with movements and dance, neither did I expect to see on the screen a place that looks like a resort spa for Europeans who dance and chant like crazy (choreography preserved by scriptwriter Jeanne de Salzmann, Gurdjieff's deputy, who was around 90 years old when the film was made). Fortunately this is only during the last minutes of the film, and the rapture caused by the previous images is not badly ruined by this conclusion. Worth a look.

This is a movie for those seeking their truth. It is about a period in the life of Gurdjieff and his struggle (and obsession) to find himself. Investigating philosophy, religion, science, spirituality, he finally comes to a point (at the end of the movie) of being at peace with himself and on his path. I found it to be a remarkable film, and, at the end, inspiring and uplifting.

Gurdjieff is such an intriguing character- a Greek-Armenian wanderer turned mystic- whose stories combine travelogue, religion, mysticism, and sci-fi; with a Tai-Chi like system of exercise; and rather rigourous ritual structure (not portrayed in the film, but approaching the tactics of Scientology)...to form a full blown cult of personality, that would go on to influence, even, presidents.

The story here- taken from Gurdjieff's book of the same name, about his travels, and the men he would meet on his path toward enlightenment- starts with a young grifter in Armenia, who gets by hustling with his friends...before he meets an old Dervish priest, with a mysterious parchment that a Russian prince had paid thousands of dollars to copy.

This takes him away from his friends, and sets him on a path that will take him to far off distant places, where he will meet many renown men.

Mainly, those in the Dervish community, on who- the film suggests- his system was based and developed from.

Though, many of the tactics shown are actually "The Movements" developed by Gurdjieff, himself...particularly those portrayed in the group scenes in the school.

All of this ties in with Gurdjieff's cult having a sort of gnostic basis, grounded in Zoroastrianism.

While the film is slow paced, it's also very intriguing - having been designed to take you through Gurdjieff's backstory (as he tells it, of course) in a very clear and straight forward way.

I say "or course", above, because Gurdjieff was basically a fraud on par with Castaneda himself...just making this crap up, the same way Castaneda did with Don Juan.

Either way, however, the scenery is amazing...and Brook uses alot of extras to create "big" scenes- which really set the tone of the film's atmosphere.

The choreography of the dances- whether those of the whirling Dervishes, or those employing Gurdjieff's own methods- are exquisitely done...with the scenes shot rather beautifully.

Alluring us, as viewers, the same way that Gurdjieff would have been allured by the great men he would meet on his journeys, while out exploring as a curious traveler, out of his element, on a hunt for answers about the very nature of his own being.

Though open ended (Gurdjieff's other books would effectively continue the story), the whole thing really is quite stunning...and draws you in, like a curious mind is drawn in to something exotic and new.

An excellent introduction to Gurdjieff, for the more visual learner.

7.5 out of 10.

It is unusual to even see a film being made about this kind of subject matter. Gurdjieff is an important figure in the history of religion, and this film is interesting in that it not only has a performance by Terrance Stamp in it, but also the fact that the Sufi dancing in it is authentic, as far as I am aware. Also, as far as I am aware, this is the only time that anyone in the outside world has ever been allowed to observe this form of sacred dance that the Sufis have been using for thousands of years. Additionally, the meetings that he has with some of the individuals who are spiritually advanced are handled intelligently and realistically. A must for anyone on the spiritual path.

Meetings with Remarkable Men is the adaptation of part of the autobiography of George Gurdjieff, a mystic who lived between the 2nd half of the 19th century and the 1st half of the 20th century.

The movie is more like a docudrama, about his travels from central asia to Egypt, and back to central Asia once again in a pursuit for knowledge about the purpose of life and existence, and the movie focuses on the time span between his teenage years back in Georgia to his early adulthood and the discovery of the secret place of the Sarmoung Brotherhood.

The movie was well produced, and its purpose was not to tell a story as much as to enlighten those who are willing to receive the knowledge, which is why I gave it a full score.

I first saw the preview of the film in Santa Fe, 1979, having flown from London to so do, and to meet Mme de Hartman. I re-watched the film in November 2016; Mme de Hartmann was a remarkable woman, and this film is remarkable only for a)its dullness; the script is risible and ponderously 'worthy'; the acting is wooden,sets are stilted , and some of the backdrops look like wallpaper; Terence Stamp lisps; Athol Fugard sports an incongruous Boer accent.(The Movements section in the finale gives a taste of what might have been). and, b)the helpless and hopeless directing of Peter Brooks- contrasted to his other efforts-like the Mahabarata- suggest him to have been following and demonstrating one of the Gurdjieff Work Maxims' Man is Asleep'.

Not a movie for everybody. Hidden here, by Gurdjieff's greatest student, Mme.Jean de Salzmann, are real questions for people who find themselves, willy-nilly, searching. What is miraculous? How can a child be educated so as not to kill them (inside) by the age of 6? What is a real sacrifice? There are even glimpses of sacred dances, done by Gurdjieff's pupils after decades of practice. Not a "feel-good" movie, but a "feel more" movie.

I had big expectations about this film, but it turned out to be a huge disappointment. Ultimately, it is a boring, soporific movie that rambles around with no clear commitment to its subject matter. No light is shed on the early years of G. I. Gurdjieff and who are those remarkable men of the title and how he became a forceful religious and philosophical character.

Acting is zombie-like. Trite, repetitive script has no dramatic highlights, with the only exception of a herd of camels roaming freely around the dunes. Some sequences are involuntarily hilarious or hard to believe.

All in all, there is more spirituality in the Star Wars saga than in the 108 min of this movie. "May the force be with you" has more punch in just one line that all the mumbo jumbo in MWRM.

It deserves 1, instead of zero (not available), thanks to the soundtrack -likely, the only redeeming quality- and for being good for a weekend nap.

I find it disconcerting that in an era when satisfying and fulfilling spirituality is unknown and we are all scattered across the whole spectrum of possible beliefs, that a charlatan and fraud of Gurdjieff's caliber (as a charlatan, he is exceptional; there is no denying he had a special gift. It's a pity he misused it, though, for the aggrandizement of his wounded ego, feeding on the adulation of unwary sheep who were at his beck and call and in awe of him) can inspire such extreme adherence and credulity. This movie presents an idealized version of Gurdjieff's own largely fictional and fantastic account of his formation and "awakening" (which I would rather describe as his discovery of how much he could sway the minds and wills of certain types of sadly disoriented people). See it, if you dare to have a disagreeable eye-opening about how sadly deprived we are of true religious leaders, to the extent that a clown like Gurdjieff could inspire such devotion - and be careful to have your blood pressure medicine at hand if you are one of those who still hope for a healthy religion to emerge from the ruins of Christianity, as a supreme example of cinematography at the entire service of the premises and pretenses of a dysfunctional cult.

We do not have the opportunity in our days to discover hidden powers within our soul which will enable us to have a worthy living, as real human beings. It means that there are other things, apart from the everyday cares, which start to be visible, if you really come to really understand the meaning of the movie and not superficially looking at it as movie entertainment or out of curiosity. Also, it makes us more open minded to understand and look the differences between people both in the way of life and personal characteristics. We usually dislike what we are not accustomed to, without paying attention to the fact that embracing differences in a positive way, we enlarge and enrich our soul.

It was never mentioned in the film that these dances were intended to prolong (momentary) Self-awareness in order to heighten consciousness of the dancers (not the spectators) 9 members of the Mevlevi whirling Dervishes performed similar exercises at speed moving on the lines depicted in Gurdjieff's enneagram with eyes closed at the same time as revolving without touching another. It is not generally known that a crop circle of this 9 pointed star appeared in a field in Cherhill Wiltshire UK on 17 July 1999, the centre of which illustrating the swirling spiral.

This heightened consciousness had the same effects on the participants as on psychedelic drug takers except the latter lose their self-awareness. For me this spiritual aspect of the film clashed with 'Alf Garnet' whose popularity was manifest at the time of the film release

This is a beautifully shot and composed film that is made up mainly of set pieces of small vignettes and amazing central Asian scenery. The story itself is interesting to those who enjoy stories about spiritual searches. But the acting is so stiff and wooden as to be almost unwatchable and you can tell Mr Brook, the director, is primarily a theater director as each scene is so over-directed it's almost painful to witness. The main actor has a Russian accent that is distracting and also inconsistent with the actor who plays him as a younger man, and he doesn't even look "young" like Gurdjieff is supposed to be during this time period - he looks middle-aged. I understand followers of Gurdjieff may treat this film as almost a sacred document, showing his early life as he was on his way to his discoveries, but that doesn't make up for an otherwise forgettable film filled with forced set pieces that are almost unintentionally humorous to watch today.