baraka
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Baraka is an ancient Sufi word that can mean 'a blessing', 'a breath before the evolutionary process unfolds', 'the essence of life'. Baraka tells us the story of the evolution of Earth and Mankind, and how man relates to his environment.
The film opens up with an ape on a snow-covered mountaintop in Japan. The camera shows us the expression of the monkey, we don't know whether the monkey is thinking of something but it has a deep look on its face. Then we see a man looking through a opened window, and the camera shows us the first step of the solar eclipse. From here, the camera glides across continents, introducing us the religions. Firstly the camera shows us Tibetian monks, the Orthodox Jews, whirling Dervishes, Buddhist monks. Then we hear a sound but we don't know where it comes from, then slowly the camera moves to a closer shot to African tribal rituals showing us the harmony between the people in the same rite. Then the camera shows us another kind of rite in Africa again, but here all the people are separated from each other, men are on one side, women are on the other and the children are on another side.
After the peaceful, harmonious atmosphere between the people and nature, the camera shows us explosions, cutting trees and fire...