Celebrated filmmaker Werner Herzog turns his attention to one of the largest Buddhist gatherings in the world in this documentary. Each year, thousands of Buddhist pilgrims travel to the village of Bhod Gaya in India (the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment) to take part in the Kalachakra Initiation. As the visitors stream into Bhod Gaya, many traveling on foot and often stopping to prostrate themselves as a sign of devotion, a team of monks create a beautiful and
intricate sand painting on Mount Kallash, which is scattered to the winds by the Dalai Lama at the end of the 12-day celebration as a symbol of the impermanence of existence. Herzog documents the ancient rituals of this ceremony as well as profiling the Dalai Lama and some of the many Buddhists who travel to India for this event. Wheel of Time was originally produced for German and British television, though it enjoyed a theatrical release in the United States. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The assembly and eventual destruction of the Kalachakra sand mandala is the cycle around which the German director Werner Herzog's absorbing documentary is structured.
Wheel of Time is flawed because Herzog attempts to illustrate faith through the exercise of faithfulness. He runs after the poetry of Buddhism and it eludes him.
Insightful, fascinating and intriguing. A view of a fairly hidden world and an interview with one of the most interesting characters of our time and typically beautiful photography. To be honest, just watching the monks creating the sand painting and hearing Herzogs voice hypnotises me. Another great Herzog
documentary, spellbinding and beautiful.
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