Derivation: This comes from the Arabic for a blessing, implying that it comes as a gift from God.

The stress goes on the first syllable.

The word is related to the Hebrew baruch.

Baraka is an ancient Sufi word that can translate to different things in different lauguages, but basically means blessing or the essence of life. It is a Ron Fricke film made in 1992 and a Mark Magidson production. The movie was designed to be an "answer" to Godfrey Reggio's "Koyaanisqatsi." The movie took over 13 months to film and in 24 countries and 6 continents. It contains absolutely no dialogue, actors, or script. The musical score is critical to the film and was put together by Philip Glass.

The images in the film are diverse. There are scenes of cities, religious temples, animals, people, nature and landmarks. Each are placed in the film as juxtaposition as well as a parallel. Ron Fricke uses the speed of the film and Philip Glass's music to make comparisons and contrasts as well. For example he will uses scenes of animals in roaming freely in a jungle to a busy New York city street or the remains found in Auschwitz, Austria. The images show the beauty and the ugly of the world.

I believe Baraka is about how "modern" people used to find peace, and tranquility in nature and God. People used to live in harmony with the world and all of its creatures. But somehow over time things have been falling, like a hundred year old redwood being cut by a lumberjack in the forest. It has created confusion and a lack of a sense of unity with nature. People have turned into robots and some people feel the worst of it by living in poverty and with illness due to unsafe and unclean environments. Ron Fricke seems to say that with religion and respect to each other, ourselves, and the Earth we can make a full circle and again find that peace and tranquility.

The places that were filmed are:

Argentina: Iguacu Falls

Arizona: Phoenix: American Express Corporation. Tucson: Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center. Canyon de Chelley: White House. Peabody Coal Mine. Kit Peak National Observatory.

Australia: Bathurst Island: Tiwi Tribe. Kakadu National Park: Jim Jim Falls, Twin Falls, Kunwarde Hwarde Valley, Cooinda, Yellow Water. Uluru National Park: Ayers Rock.

Brazil: Rio de Janeiro: Ipanema, Favela de Rocinhu. Carajas: Animal Rescue. Al Aukre: Kayapo Village. Porto Vehlo. Rio Preto. Samuel Dam & Lake. Sao Paolo.

California: Los Angeles, Oakland, Big Sur.

Cambodia: Angkor: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thorm, Angkor Bayon, Angkor Preach Kahn, Angkor Ta Proum, Angkor Tonle Omm Gate. Phnom Pen: Tuol Sleng Museum. Siem Reap: Sonsam Kosal Killing Fields.

China: Beijing: Tiananman Square, Great Hall of the People. Xi'an: Museum of Terra Cotta Warriors & Horses of Qin Shi Huang. Quilin: Li River.

Colorado: Mesa Verde National Park.

Ecuador: Galapagos Islands. Guayaquil: Barrio Mapasingue, Cuidad Blanca Cemeterio, General de Guayaquil.

Egypt: Cairo: Pyramids at Gizha, City of the Dead. Luxor: Ramasseum, Temple of Karmak, Temple of Luxor.

France: Chartres: Chartres Cathedral. Reims: Reims Cathedral.

Hawaii: Island of Hawaii: Kona, Vlocanoes National Park - Puuoo. Island of Maui: Haleakala National Park.

Hong Kong: Kowloon

India: Calcutta: City Landfill, Museum of India. Madras: Vardharajan Temple, Kailashnath Temple. Varanasi: Ghats, Ganges River.

Indonesia: Bali: Tampak Siring - Temple Gunung Kawi. Uluwatu. Kediri Tabanan. Tegal Allang. Mancan Padi. Java: Jakarta - Istiqlal Mosque. Jogiakarta - Prmbanan, Candi Perwara, Candi Nandi. Kediri - Gudang Garam Cigarette factory. Solo - Sekaten Festival at the Kasunanan Palace. Borobudur. Mt. Bromo Valley.

Iran: Isfahan: Emam Mosque. Persepolis. Shiraz: Shahcherach Mosque.

Isreal: Jerusalem: Western Wall. Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Italy: Vatican City: St. peter Basilica.

Japan: Kyoto: Ryoan - Ji Temple. Nagano Springs, Snow Monkeys, Yamanouchi - Machi Town Office. Nara: Hokke - Ji Temple, Sansho -Ji Temple. Tokyo: Green Plaza Capsule Hotel, JR Shinjuku Station, JVC Yokosuka factory, Meiji Shrine, Nitttaku, Tomoe Shizune & Hakutobo, Zoujou - Ji Temple.

Kenya: Masaai Mara, Mara Rianta Manyatta, Mara Kichwa Tembo Manyatta. Lake Magadi.

Kuwait: Ahmadi, Burgan Field. Jahra Road - Mitla' Ridge.

Nepal: Kathmandu: Bodnath, Pasupati, Swayambhu. Himalayas: Mount Everest, Mount Tramserku. Bhaktapur: Hanuman Ghat, Durbar Square.

New Mexico: Shiprock.

New York: New York City: World Trade Center, Grand Central Terminal, Empire State Building, Helmsley Building - 230 Park Avenue. Stormville: Greenhaven Correctional Facility.

Poland: Auschwitz. Bytom.

Saudi Arabia: Mecca.

Tanzania: Lake Natron.

Thailand: Bangkok: Patpong. Soi Cowboy. Wat Arun. Wat Suthat. Bang Pa-In, Ayutthaya Province: NMB Factory.

Turkey: Istanbul: Galata Mevlevi Temple. Haia Sophia.

Utah: Arches National Park. Canyonlands National Park.
This might be my favourite movie of all time. You haven't really seen it until you've seen it on the big screen, with big sound. I rented it one time to show my parents, and it wasn't anywhere near as cool. Luckily, there is a wonderful second-run movie theatre where I live which plays it every couple months or so.

Since the content of the film is so diverse, and since it so wonderfully depicts the beautiful alongside the ugly, I do not see it as any kind of judgement about how humanity should live. The style is exposing, yet unassuming; the images of people worshipping religious icons, for instance, (such as the women kissing the silver lock) can mean different things to different people. Even when showing the most beautiful or the most terrible images, the film maintains a detached objectivism, in no small part due to its lack of commentary. There are definite parallels made throughout the film which illustrate different concepts, but I always see these as questions posed to the audience as opposed to Ron Fricke telling the audience the "answer". Indeed, no audience member watches the movie without asking themselves a myriad of questions.

When I see Baraka, I see a brilliant presentation of what humanity does, through how we interact with our environment, each other, and ourselves. In a more general sense, I see it as what evolution does, or what life does, in all its splendor and diversity. It really puts things into perspective. Look at all this terror, this beauty, this stupidity, this brilliance: it all just goes on and on and on.

I see Baraka to be amazed.

These are the moves for Mortal Kombat 2. Only some of the special moves, and none of the finishing moves, are applicable to other MK games.

Special Moves
Blade Spark: Down, Down/Back, Back, High Punch
Blade Fury*: Back, Back, Back, Low Punch
Blade Swipe: Back + High Punch

Finishing Moves
Decapitation: About a step away, hold Block, press Back, Back, Back, Back, release Block, High Punch
Impaler: About a step away, press Back, Forward, Down, Forward, Low Punch
Babality**: Forward, Forward, Forward, High Kick
Friendship** : <Block>Up, Up, </Block> Forward, Forward, High Kick
Dead Pool: Hold Low Punch and Low Kick, then approach the victim and press Down and High Punch
Kombat Tomb/Pit II: Forward, Forward, Down, High Kick

* While executing this move, the fact that you're crouching prevents you from being hit by certain projectiles
** Of course, you cannot do a babality or friendship if you've done any punching in the winning round

Baraka is a 96 minute visual extravaganza, an unfolding journey with both beautiful and ugly images juxtaposed, leading from one silent scene to the next. Silent as in no narration, however the director and cinematographer, Ron Fricke, wisely chose mesmerizing music scored by Michael Stearns, from Dead Can Dance, L. Subramanian, Ciro Hurtado, Inkuyo, Brother, and David Hykes. Shot in 70mm, in 1992 and remastered in 2008, this incredible film spans locations in over 20 countries, varied cultures, ceremonies, traffic patterns, faces and faces, interspersed with familiar and unfamiliar natural events and landscapes.


The film was both relaxing and distressing to watch, almost too rich in detail...a young boy sitting alone against a wall, covered with a blanket partially. He holds something in his hand, a plastic toy dinosaur, perhaps, then you notice one toy car at his side and maybe you wonder, as I did, if that is all he has in this world.


Although there are no actors or plot, only subtle and not-so-subtle themes, this film left each of us just as wordless as Baraka. I look forward to watching the sequel, "an arguably darker, updated version" with the title Samsara. Warning: four out of four people who watched Baraka in my house experienced vivid and exhausting dreams that night.

Everything2...other nodes incorrectly state Philip Glass' involvement as well as postulate Ron Fricke's intent (JUST WATCH THE MOVIE)
Wikipedia
youtube Dead Can Dance (The Host of Seraphim)
www.barakasamsara.com

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