While the "City Symphony" format of the silent era might no longer be a filmmaking trend, a string of more recent movies which explore the visual potential of the planet has emerged to take its place. After acting as cinematographer on Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi, Ron Fricke took up the directing duties himself for Baraka, perhaps the most impressive of the "Earth Symphony" (to coin a phrase) films. The peace and tranquility of a remote Japanese mountain is juxtaposed with the bowels of a gigantic quarry; baby chicks in a factory cross cut with streets teeming with pedestrians. In this way, Fricke unravels the complexities and contradictions of the world we live in. Shot in 70mm, Baraka is a truly stunning visual experience (and it's worth owning on Blu-ray for the reference quality transfer) which was considered one of the greats by late critic Roger Ebert, who said of the film, "If man sends another Voyager to the distant stars and it can carry only one film on board, that film might be Baraka."
