Works better as a sad meditation on the spiritual hopes of a poverty-stricken people than as a portrait of a charismatic guru.
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08/31/06
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Darshan - the Embrace (2006)
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Reviews Counted:20
Fresh:10
Rotten:10
Average Rating:5.7/10
Theatrical Release:Jul 26, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: Amma, one of India's most famous "Mahatmas" or spiritual guides, is known internationally for her charitable donations, fight for peace, and work with illiteracy. In 2002, she won the Gandhi King... [More]
Director: Jan Kounen
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Reviews for Darshan - the Embrace
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
This well-made film illuminates the power of a charismatic personality in rousing the multitudes.
07/15/06
Jan Kounen's Darshan- The Embrace extols the healing power of touch, revealing, cinematically and without condescension, the appeal of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi.
07/11/06
A documentary about Amma, India's hugging saint, that reveals her large reserves of unconditional love, playfulness, compassion, and service of the poor.
07/20/06
Filling our heads with pretty pictures and not much else, Darshan: The Embrace is likely to leave audiences enchanted but unenlightened.
07/25/06
Top Critica beautifully filmed portrait of a woman who embodies a human love that is nothing short of miraculous
11/16/06
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.
07/26/06
Far from inundating viewers with a litany of facts, Jan Kounen has his lilting camera drift through the colorful streets of India, recording Amma from a you-are-there vantage.
07/15/06
You may walk away from Darshan, if it moves you at all, smiling yourself. After all, we could all use a hug.
10/05/06
Top CriticKounen captures the squalor of Indian everyday life, as well as the tranquil faces and holy places of everything that passes his camera's gaze.
09/01/06
Without explanatory narration, the impressionistic editing is likely to prove tedious for the uninitiated.
07/25/06
Top CriticHer teachings are trite.
10/06/06
Director Jan Kounen clearly reveres his subject, too; you begin yearning for some skeptics to restore the balance, but they never appear.
09/14/06
Lacks both narrative edge and a complex world view.
03/01/07
Less National Geographic and more personal history would have added a dimension to Darshan.
09/21/06
Top CriticA loose and often not-so-engrossing assortment of scenes intended to showcase Amma's hold on her followers.
08/18/06
Top CriticIt 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.
11/02/06
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.
09/21/06
[A] handsomely photographed but one-sided documentary.
07/26/06
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.
08/18/06
Top Critic1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
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