A startling assemblage of images from across the globe flicker by in the non-narrative documentary Samsara. Director Ron Fricke and producer Mark Magidson, who made the similar film Baraka, filmed in 25 countries over a period of four years and the end result is a time capsule to humanity's beauty, power, ugliness and grace. Audiences travel through Buddhist temples in Tibet, sex doll factories in China, busy Italian marketplaces and crowded American cities. Philosophical statements, like overconsumption and the evil of guns, sometimes bleed through the edit via the arrangement of segments. Which is unfortunate, as it politicizes what's otherwise an uncritical and celebratory tapestry of our world. Hiccups of intent aside, Samsara is a hypnotic film of sublime sights you're unlikely to forget.
