The most impressive part of Baraka is the beautiful photography. Almost every shot is made with such devotion. Some scenes are very overwhelming. But what I miss in this movie is coherence. Fricke tries to show too many things, too many different cultures, religions, a bit of bio industry, a bit of burning oil fields, a bit koyaanisqatsi etc. It's not fully clear what he's trying to say, let alone that he confronts with a strong opinion. That already shows in the way the beginning is edited, shots aren't fully finished before they cut to the next shot, it almost feels (ironically enough) like he's got too little time to show everything he wants to.
It's interesting that Ron Fricke was director of photography of Koyaanisqatsi which was released about 9 years earlier. Koyaanisqatsi (same IMDB user rating!) does have that coherence, that strong opinion which you can't get around while watching it. All means, style, music editing etc. are used to serve this one purpose: to let the spectator experience this overpopulated, overstressed world.
In my opinion, Fricke should have focused on less different subjects and connect them by a much stronger and clearer message. That would have turned Baraka into a master piece. (I wonder why I see so many people on the credits who worked on Koyanisqatsi too, except for one person: Godfrey Reggio, the director. Does that have to do with clashing opinions on this kind of movies, which may explain the difference between these two movies?)
It's interesting that Ron Fricke was director of photography of Koyaanisqatsi which was released about 9 years earlier. Koyaanisqatsi (same IMDB user rating!) does have that coherence, that strong opinion which you can't get around while watching it. All means, style, music editing etc. are used to serve this one purpose: to let the spectator experience this overpopulated, overstressed world.
In my opinion, Fricke should have focused on less different subjects and connect them by a much stronger and clearer message. That would have turned Baraka into a master piece. (I wonder why I see so many people on the credits who worked on Koyanisqatsi too, except for one person: Godfrey Reggio, the director. Does that have to do with clashing opinions on this kind of movies, which may explain the difference between these two movies?)