Antone's Nightclub
Not Favorite Fricke Film Still Better Than Most
RECEIVED Sun., Sept. 23, 2012
Dear Editor,
Re: Marjorie Baumgarten's review of Samsara [Film Listings, Sept. 14]: Wow, this review reads like it was phoned in from a remote location after watching the trailer. Sure, there was a lot of revisiting of sites from Baraka - and not as breathtakingly stitched together. And [Ron] Fricke is really finger-wagging this time on themes he's touched on more artfully before - agri-food is a crime, the sex industry is a nightmare, human waste is dooming us, and Americans are fat. It's reasonable to wonder if it is (or should be) his last attempt at conveying this sort of message.
But.
All told, I'll sit through a not-my-favorite Fricke film over anybody else's best stuff any day, because what he captures and serves up reminds me that: 1) it's amazing to be alive; 2) there are still mysterious and beautiful places on my own planet that I would never see were it not for his work; 3) we need to do a much better job taking care of our animals, our children, our war wounded, and generally each other; and 4) nature will always have the last word.
Who needs to drop acid to understand these things?
Re: Marjorie Baumgarten's review of Samsara [Film Listings, Sept. 14]: Wow, this review reads like it was phoned in from a remote location after watching the trailer. Sure, there was a lot of revisiting of sites from Baraka - and not as breathtakingly stitched together. And [Ron] Fricke is really finger-wagging this time on themes he's touched on more artfully before - agri-food is a crime, the sex industry is a nightmare, human waste is dooming us, and Americans are fat. It's reasonable to wonder if it is (or should be) his last attempt at conveying this sort of message.
But.
All told, I'll sit through a not-my-favorite Fricke film over anybody else's best stuff any day, because what he captures and serves up reminds me that: 1) it's amazing to be alive; 2) there are still mysterious and beautiful places on my own planet that I would never see were it not for his work; 3) we need to do a much better job taking care of our animals, our children, our war wounded, and generally each other; and 4) nature will always have the last word.
Who needs to drop acid to understand these things?
Stephanie Mitchel