Samsara Reviews
It's riveting in composition and soundtrack. Turn it on and you won't be able to look away.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 27, 2020
I can't fault the film on a technical level and I can appreciate the years of work that went into it. But it's manipulative and condescending, a series of striking visuals appropriated and arranged into a film that's not half as deep as it thinks it is.
Full Review | Feb 26, 2019
Each painstakingly shot sequence and beautifully rendered frame speaks volumes -- presenting a fascinating riddle of humanist metaphors and allegories.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 2, 2019
Once the meditative flow of phenomenal photography takes hold, the virtuosity of the film emerges.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 28, 2013
A truly individual, dedicated concept that pulls through by seamlessly flowing in perfect harmonic construction.
Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Feb 5, 2013
Full Review | Original Score: A | Jan 22, 2013
By journey's end, the film comes full circle, tying everything together with the notion that even the finest art in the world can dissipate in seconds...
Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 12, 2013
Mesmerising, impressionistic movie in which time-lapse photography...is intended to ignite thoughts about the meaning of life, society, technology, God, ecology and robots.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 26, 2012
Beauty and brutality in nature and in humanity are juxtaposed with visual artistry that is a result of both the images themselves and how they are edited together
Full Review | Dec 16, 2012
Magical, spiritual, meditative and calming, Samsara is everything we could ask for - a wondrous, informative and inquisitive work of art.
Full Review | Dec 16, 2012
Fricke has made a panoramic film that captures the interconnected world, particularly in developing nations, in all its beauty and ugliness. We're meant to bear witness, to see and to become aware that what we do in America is being seen as well.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 14, 2012
As a viewer, you are cast adrift in a sea of visual wonder, some of which looks like it was filmed on another planet.
Full Review | Original Score: B | Nov 22, 2012
This visually spectacular travelogue captures memorable images from every corner. The end result is not just a gorgeous picture show, but also a thought-provoking rumination on our complicated relationship with our home planet.
Full Review | Nov 16, 2012
It's filled with religious and worldly images that encourage us to reflect on them and interpret them according to our own experiences.
Full Review | Original Score: B | Nov 9, 2012
Fantasia, with dead chickens.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 5, 2012
Ron Fricke tops Baraka
Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 20, 2012
[The film] presents a stunning series of visuals showing the planet's cyclical journey from nature through civilization and back.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 12, 2012
Crams all of the supersized format's extra resolution into a standard image that's so pristine it often feels like 3-D.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 11, 2012
One doesn't have to be a Buddhist to perceive themes of circularity and renewal in Samsara, but it takes that level of patience to suffer its frequent low points with silence and good humour.
Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Oct 5, 2012
A continuous flow of images of the natural world and the human tide that dominates it.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 4, 2012