Review of Samsara (2011) by Sean L — 10 Apr 2013

Dialog-free vistas and stunning panoramas from the makers of the equally-minimal HD heavyweight Baraka. It's a visual revelation - a shifting, stirring, breathing case study for motion photography - and the kind of cinema that Blu-Ray was born for.

As the direct successor to the aforementioned Baraka, though, direct comparisons are both inevitable and often unfair. In some lights, it does manage to surpass its predecessor, particularly in its series of jaw-dropping long exposure landscapes.

That's a surface that was merely scratched before, and Samsara's renditions are a jolting evolution of the format. In the cases of musical accompaniment, deeper meanings and sheer variety of subject, though, it falls a few steps short of the bar.

This kind of picture isn't for everybody (in fact, it put my family to sleep) and if this is your first rodeo you'd be far better served with Baraka or Koyaanisqatsi, but seasoned fans should welcome the new material.

.. even if it's not *quite* as grand as previous entries.