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AnonymousAlso, here is a link about the film and some information on what is captured in a few of the scenes. You can read it even if you haven't seen the film.
AnonymousI saw the film Samsara on Saturday after our class session. The documentary addressed topics that I often do not think about. I liked the idea that there is a connection to everything. Everything in life affects something else. Most importantly, the film brought awareness to the changes that take place due to nature and it's climate. The five year journey instilled within me a sense of appreciation for other cultures and the circumstances that people live in. Topics like war, the food industry, relationships, rituals, prison systems and so forth were addressed. The cinematography was nicely done and I enjoyed the fact that there was no spoken words. The film was very therapeutic but it contained some elements of fear about the realities that are occurring in our everyday lives. Regardless of the things that are happening in the world, people will discover ways to survive and make progress. The factory scenes were very interesting to me. For example, the food sequences from chickens, to cows and pigs and the conditions of these animals made me feel sympathetic towards these creatures. Also, the factory of women making the irons was intriguing because it made me think of the concepts of the well "oiled machine." Everyone must contribute in order to created something and make progress. I plan sections of this film when I am teaching certain novels. For examples, I could use the military scenes when I teach Orwell's 1984 to provide different ideas of war to students. This was a great film. Thank you very much.
AnonymousFinally, got to watch the film, "Samsara" and I can honestly say that it's breath taking. The scenery, the colors, and the sounds along with the people capture the meaning of the word. The movie shows remains of temples, the destruction of the tsunami, and the sound on the background is so moving. The movie's message captures the meaning of samsara, that time passes. The earth and everything in it, is part of the eternal cycle.
Rob_Hugo@PortNWI just finished watching the documentary, Samsara. If you haven't seen it yet, it's an incredibly well-done documentary with amazing visuals. This film definitely promotes global awareness and presents interesting cultural aspects. I think that any educator could use a clip from this documentary as a hook for a lesson. I plan on using a short clip from the beginning of the movie that focused on trash and recycling on Wednesday for Earth Day. Being that I teach fifth grade, I think the students will find the clip interesting and will be able to make connections to the concept as a global citizen. The film would also be an excellent tool to remind students of their place within American society/culture and examining cultures around the world.
As I watched the film from beginning to end, I was trying to apply the idea of samsara to all the pieces of the film. The film brought up a variety of emotions for me from awe, joy, sadness, anger, etc. merely from clips of different cultures. One of the definitions of samsara is "a wandering through," which the film gracefully captures from its' many clips. I also found the Buddhist definition of samsara on Wikipedia which states, "[font=sans-serif]Within Buddhism, samsara is defined as the continual repetitive cycle of birth and death that arises from ordinary beings' grasping and fixating on a self and experiences." I think that the filmmakers kept both definitions closely in mind as they shot and edited the footage for this film. As I was watching, I felt that the filmmakers did their best to focus on the people their were shooting, the lives they lived, what they were experiencing at that moment, and the emotions each situation conjured. Samsara is a beautiful movie that does a wonderful job of keeping true to the definition (as opposed to the Samsara perfume/cologne, wine, and other products Professor Dube mentioned). [/font]
AnonymousAfter watching clips from the movie, Samsara , in class on Saturday I was intrigued to see what the rest of the movie had in store. My movie review became a family affair. I began watching it by myself , then my sister arrived with my niece so I replayed some scenes for her. Then my brother and mother and I replayed scenes for them too. It took be a little over two hours to finish the movie because I keep playing some parts over and over for them. All the images and/or clips provoked an emotion and curiosity. The range of emotions ranged from sad to awe to anger and back to awe. One of the clips I played several times was the opening scene with the dancers. Another was the caskets in the shape of planes, guns, and animals. I just could imagine someone using a casket that is not rectangular shape. I'm not judging it or saying that is wrong, I just didn't understand it. It raised a conversation between my family of how we want to be buried or cremated.
While I would be able to use some of the clips in my 6th grade classroom to provoke discussion on cultural differences, geographical landmarks or biomes, weather and climate, there are many clips that i would make sure to stay away from. Carrying a discussion on change would be very informative for both my students and myself. Change is the only thing that is guaranteed. People change, land changes, ideal change, interest change. Change is constant. I would also show my students the clips that showed the beautiful temples or landmarks to raise a future interest in travel. The geographical regions captured in this film raised my interest in world travel. Up to now, most of my travels have been done around the US and Canada, but I definitely will extend the range this summer. I researched some of the locations covered. The following are just some of the locations I found: Angola (Epupa falls), Egypt ( Egyptian Museum, Great Pyramids of Giza, and City of the Dead), Mali (Great Mosque of Djenne, Dogon Village), Namibia (Skeleton Village and Himba Village), China (Tagou Martial Arts School), Beijing (1000 Hands Dance), Palestine (Bethehem), Israel (Wailing Wall), Philiphines (Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Payatas Trash Dump), France ( Chateau de Versailles, La Sainte-Chapelle, Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris), Brazil ( Paraisopolis Favela, Divino Salvador Church, and Hawaii (Kilauea Volcano).
edited by malvarenga on 4/24/2015