5/5 An amazing visual & auditory journey.
  by Sherry Lindemann (NC, USA)
Baraka is for those of us who like to travel, see and experience different cultures and dream about the next trip and aspire to take great photos. Baraka is an amazing journey for the eyes and the ears; the scenery, people and music is almost meditative. Beautifully done.

4/5 Unsettling, Sometimes Disturbing (But Stunning)
  by Kevin Barrack (San Mateo, CA USA)
Yes, yes, this is a beautiful and stunning film. But read on.

First, there is a theme of unsettling footage of people staring directly into the camera. It's unsettling because they just stare without emotion, for probably at least 10 seconds at a time (which is a long time to stare at someone staring back at you). It's unsettling, but extremely interesting. I think this is a good part of the film. This is something you don't generally see in everyday life.

However, be warned, or maybe that's too strong a term, but you should be aware that there are a few parts that are disturbing. I would say these parts are political, except that without any commentary it is the viewer who is left to draw their own conclusions, rather than any conclusions being posited. For instance, there is a rather lengthy part showing chickens in a production farm that is somewhat disturbing. The handling of chicks is shown, with them sliding down chutes as if they were pills being sorted into jars. In fact they are being sorted, but into which two groups? The ambiguity is disturbing. Then a worker is burning or cutting the beaks of the chicks and roughly tossing htem aside. And then a worker holds chicks down in a contraption that does something to their necks. All this bothersome imagery comes in the middle of an otherwise beautiful series of vignettes. I thought it kind of ruined the mood of wonder and enjoyment.

More bothersome imagery is shown at the end, when fields of burning oil wells are shown, smoke filling the sky, and a scene of soldiers with stacks of ordnance around them. Again, I thought this emotionally violent footage ruined the beauty of the film.

I do think the film is compelling enough to overcome these negative parts however. One of the interesting habits of the film is how it draws a comparison between various unrelated scenes. For instance, it shows a tribal society performing a lively dance and then cuts to images of a busy subway, drawing a parallel between the pace of life of different cultures. There is also a lot of parallels drawn between different ancient ruins. The film segues fluidly (for the most part) between one scene to the next.

Check it out and fast forward through the negative bits.

5/5 Spectacular and visually stunning
  by Oeng (Denver, CO)
This DVD makes you really appreciate the planet we live on both in a beautiful and sometimes sad way. It is shot in a way that is truly spectacular similar to the Planet Earth series, yet there are no spoken words just beautiful music and sounds.

If you want a DVD that will help you appreciate the world you live in and the many different cultures, this will truly inspire you to learn more. This is one of the most amazing videos I have ever seen.


5/5 Relaxing watching
  by Michael Kerjman (The Earth)
It is a unique work of humans so different round a globe as the world areas themself different are.

It is a second time I had watched it.

5/5 FULL ART !!!
  by SALNIKOV EDUARDO TOM (Montevideo, Uruguay, South America)
One of the most artistic films I ever had seen... it lets me a kind of sadness and great emotion... it must be seen by everybody!!