Baraka

Last night, Li-Ting invited me to a friend of a friend's house on the upper west side. He had invited people to watch Baraka on his roof.

I had seen the movie over ten years ago in Pittsburgh. I remembered only the shot of the snow monkey that opened the film and the whirling dervishes that closed it. Watching it again, I was surprised to see places I never would have imagined visiting as a college sophomore, but to which I now have been. In the opening montage I saw Angkor, Borobodur, Prambanan, Mount Bromo, Balinese rice fields, a Kekak dance performance at Goa Gajah. . . . And those places I haven't been I now hope to visit.

By the time we arrived, her friend had set up a dvd player and speakers. An LCD projector connected to the dvd player was aimed at a sheet taped to a wall. An ipod played soft music as introductions were made. Bottles of beer and cider were opened and passed around. The film started and we all settled back in lawn chairs or sprawled on the ground. A few stars shown in the clear sky above us. Airplanes blinked their way from east to west and back again. Buildings stood sentry over us. And with the city around us, the world unfolded before our eyes. Posted by eku at June 30, 2004 12:53 AM