Average Rating: 5.7/10
Reviews Counted: 20
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 10
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
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Average Rating: 2.6/5
User Ratings: 17,015
Dobermann and Blueberry director Jan Kounen offers further testament to his fascination with spirituality in this documentary exploring the healing power of touch as exhibited by Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (aka Amma, the "Hugging Saint"). A lifelong humanitarian who has spread joy by wrapping her arms around approximately 23 million people over the course of her lifetime, Devi is observed both up close and from afar as she meditates, travels from city to city on a lifelong mission of
Jul 26, 2006 Wide
Nov 14, 2006
IFC First Take
All Critics (20) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (10)
Her teachings are trite.
You may walk away from Darshan, if it moves you at all, smiling yourself. After all, we could all use a hug.
Less National Geographic and more personal history would have added a dimension to Darshan.
Director Jan Kounen clearly reveres his subject, too; you begin yearning for some skeptics to restore the balance, but they never appear.
A loose and often not-so-engrossing assortment of scenes intended to showcase Amma's hold on her followers.
The effect, however, is tranquilizing. It's disorienting and misleading, too, having the unintentional effect of making the holy woman seem like a mysterious kook.
Lacks both narrative edge and a complex world view.
a beautifully filmed portrait of a woman who embodies a human love that is nothing short of miraculous
It may have been Ari Gold on HBO's "Entourage" who coined the phrase "hug it out," but it's Indian guru Amma who lives it.
Unless you're already a true believer, Amma comes across in Darshan as a perfect angel, a frustrating enigma and a rather dull cinematic subject.
Kounen captures the squalor of Indian everyday life, as well as the tranquil faces and holy places of everything that passes his camera's gaze.
Works better as a sad meditation on the spiritual hopes of a poverty-stricken people than as a portrait of a charismatic guru.
Even if the idea of spiritual gurus and personality cults make you slightly uncomfortable, Jan Kounen's beautifully filmed portrait of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi offers enough beautiful shots of India to seduce even the least spiritual of travelers.
A documentary about Amma, India's hugging saint, that reveals her large reserves of unconditional love, playfulness, compassion, and service of the poor.
Jan Kounen's Darshan- The Embrace extols the healing power of touch, revealing, cinematically and without condescension, the appeal of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi.
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