Samsara

Watching this movie does feel like being in some trance meditation, where the viewer is suspended in the state of continuously changing mixed sensations, and of course, the ever present nagging sense of confusion. What is this movie really about? The illogical but cinematically beautifully done scenes aid in keeping the viewer’s attention, as the mind constantly tries to do what the mind normally does, to make sense of it all and frame it all into a coherent picture. But in vain. Although some of the images are grouped into themes, the sequence of the flow is still arbitrary and unpredictable. Only in the end does the film maker brings the viewer back the scene of mandala, in which the Buddhist monks erase the mandala that they so carefully created only in the beginning.

I think the clay man scene (the Transfiguration), performed by Oliveir de Sagazan, although forceful and blunt in its own creative way, really fits into this movie, by showing a man’s desperate attempts find his true identity and meaning in the absurdity of existence.
youtube.com/watch?v=jsBYtE0HOU0

About the artist:

http://olivierdesagazan.com/

http://en.artmediaagency.com/102911/a-journey-to-the-edge-of-anxiety-an-interview-with-olivier-de-sagazan/

documentaryheaven.com/samsara/

Samsara sounds like some kind of delicious hot sauce.

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The key to understanding the movie is in its name. ‘Samsara’ is a Sanskrit term that refers to the cycle of birth, death and rebirth – the Wheel of Dharma or cosmic order.

If you think of the movie’s structure like a knife slicing through the rings of an onion, then it makes more sense. The knife starts at the top of the outer layer of the onion, moves down to the top of the second layer, then to the top of the third layer and so on. Once the knife passes the centre, it slices through the bottom of the innermost layer and through the bottom of all the other layers until it cuts through the bottom of the outermost onion layer – the layer it began with. This is how the film’s structured.

THE CREATION: The movie begins with a group of Indonesian dancers. This particular dance depicts the gods at play; it’s the Hindu story of creation. This outer layer depicts the creation – the spiritual world. This is the meta-narrative or meta-container within which, all forms manifest.

THE MATERIAL WORLD: The next sequence shows a volcano erupting. It explodes and spews forth, and the earth is formed. This second layer depicts the material world. It’s the set upon which everything plays out.

MAN: In the third layer, we see a porcelain-white embryo in the womb, a dead, black body and a gold Egyptian mummy mask – life, death and resurrection. This is human envelope or container.

All of these images up till now, is just the introduction; setting the scene before the movie begins.

The core of the movie begins with images of the city of temples in Myanmar, two Nepalese horn blowers signalling the beginning of the day and a group of young trainee monks who spin the Wheel of Dharma (cosmic processes) and watch the creation of the sand Mandala.

For a few brief seconds, we catch a glimpse of a dance which tells the story of the Compassionate Buddha - the Witness - looking down upon the world.

All is good.

Then we see images of sand - the symbol of time. We’re shown ancient ruins and glorious structures crumbling back into the sand from which they came. We see medieval Churches that look more like museums filled with relics of high art, culture and ritual of past ages. Outside, the seasons pass. Dead trees barely stand in the snow while floods and running water carve into the rock taking away all that it can.

Then we come to today - the beginning of the 21st century. From here, the images become increasingly more frantic, fractured, ominous and insane.

It’s possible that the director used a more sophisticated version of the Wheel of Dharma to structure this section but for brevity’s sake, it’s sufficient to say that Samsara is rooted in duality and that’s the key element in this section. Birth and death, new and old, eastern and western, rich and poor, men and women, natural and artificial etc are very pronounced and juxtaposed against each other here.

This is man’s kingdom. It’s where man plays god and creates a world in his own dystopian image.

Here we see machines behaving like humans and humans behaving like machines. We see girls who look like dolls and dolls that look like girls. We see human production lines that look like animal production lines, natural environments being trashed, the mass slaughter of animals and the suffering of humans who eat themselves to death. We see religions infected by politics and war and the ever spreading suburban miasma swallowing up everything in its path.

Apart from a few pockets of normality this section show us our insanity beautifully portrayed by the performance artist you (Pandora) pointed out in the op. It definitely shows “man’s desperate attempts find his true identity and meaning in the absurdity of existence”

The movie then returns to the meta narrative. The insane scenes cease and we’re shown images of compassion, resurrection and rebirth. The Wheel has turned.

Using time-lapse photography, the director captures a beam of sunlight as it crosses the Church’s transept - a symbol of Spirit moving within the world. Next we see a close-up of Buddha’s hands. He is giving the sign of the Dhamachakra Mudra. The hands are held close to his heart which signifies both the centre and compassion. The hand gesture, the sign of the Wheel of Dharma, is a reminder to always be aware of the cosmic order – birth and death, creation and destruction.

Now we return to the opening images – in reverse order.

We see the city of temples, again. This time the images are of recent earthquake damage (time again). We return to Tibet, the Nepalese horn blowers signalling the new day once again and the sand Mandala but, on this day, the sand Mandala will be destroyed – another reminder that everything created is eventually destroyed.

Now we see an image of the Buddha’s serene face. Once again, Buddhist scripture is spoken through dance. This dance tells the story of the Boddhavista – the Enlightened Ones. The eyes on the performers hands symbolizes the Enlightened Ones looking down upon the earth in compassion. The multi-arm form the dancers make tells of how the enlightened ones have been bestowed with many arms to help them assist as many people as possible.

The film ends with an image of sand hills in the desert – a reference to time, again – but these sand hills are different to the earlier ones. They aren’t moving. Perhaps this is meant to signify the end of time in the Buddhist sense?.. when one is no longer trapped inside the dead past or imagined futures?.. when one enters the present moment and falls straight through?.. when one realizes he/she is Presence itself - that which was, before time? If so, that’s Moksha - liberation from Samsara.

(Well that turned out a lot longer than I had expected and took up a lot more time than I hoped, but it was an interesting exercise, so thanks, Pandy.)
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