In theory, I'm the target demographic for this. I'm content to simply encounter fine photography; I have a deep curiosity of indigenous cultures meaning in my case the original culture before being reinvented for tourists.
And yes, I share a concern about big companies and the blindnesses they elide. Plus, I value anything Carroll Ballard does. Fine man.
I think this was targeted at people like me, people who think "Koyaanisqatsi" was febrile. It just conflates respect and understanding with a lowbrow stoned mysticism. People like me, who are penetrated by the natural parts of "Hearts of Glass," the ending of "In the Mood for Love," and Terence Malick's magical notions of vision.
This doesn't have Phil Glass's ponderous music, and that's in its favor. I don't think Reggio understood Glass's music: its post-postmodern industrial music. Every phrase contradicts every vision in the film. That's been replaced here by insipid but appropriate space music. Also, this time around, we have more of a narrative: nature (good), indigenous religion (good), civilization (bad), religion resolved in civilization (good, but not as good, rather bittersweet).
Photographing natives for Westerners is a tricky business. The best I know is "Legong" which succeeds mainly because it was a labor of love. Despite its colonial context, it was respectful. Probably the worst is "Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef," a much better movie but it turns the native people into a sweet consumable for Western eyes, a confection to enjoy but not comprehend.
Native people are not intrinsically wonderful. They are as evil and ecologically inept as we. The magic is in the difference, not the being itself. Romanticizing something as is done here, does a great disservice because what we see has nothing to do with what or who they are, and everything to do with excuses we make to ourselves in order to exist.
Friends, when you watch these "natural" people, take a moment to consider that everything you see is posed. Every scene was prefaced by the director arranging and prodding and placing them and us just so.
Consider that every photo you see here of nature is perfectly framed to be wholly contained in the boundaries of the screen: Nature isn't like that, its an infinite flow. What we have here are the motivational posters neatly snipped from nature and bounded. These are sound bites and as a result are every bit as repulsive as political utterances from the "other side."
One scene is a ritual ceremony of lovely native women undulating. Its truly wonderful cinema. No mention of the ritual itself: celebrating the scarring closed of pudendal lips after circumcision. There's a nice scene of an Australian marking his face with color. It says a lot that the color is acrylic and the instrument he is using is a plastic comb.
Really, the world deserves better, and so do we. Stay away. Though pretty, this is exploitive stuff, closer to the "Mondo" films than Rimpoche.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
