Darshan - L'étreinte

No, this movie is not boring - it is riveting. I could not drag my eyes from the screen. I find India fascinating, and perhaps that is the key. This movie captures the magic of India, and that's enough for me. The feeling is of floating effortlessly through the crowds and temples and festivals, then standing close to a loving guru as her adoring fans embrace her, one by one. It is magical and touching and an unforgettable view of India. India is a tough place to visit, and most travel shows leave out the best parts. This movie captures the best of India, and leaves the plots and dramas, facts and figures for another day.

This film is one of the most inspiring films in my life. Excellent pictures, excellent sound and the main figure is simply mind-blowing ;-). She has the biggest charitable network a single woman ever created and her untiring efforts to uplift the poor, sick and suffering is recognized throughout the whole world.

The director gives an impression of Amma's turbulent life - in her spiritual center in Kerala, on her tour through North India and during the celebration of her 50th birthday. She counsels, organizes and hugs almost 24 hours per day, hardly getting any food, drink or sleep. Her charities are so efficiently reaching out to the poorest of society that even the President of India donated his income of ten months to Ammas organization. Unfortunately the charitable network is hardly mentioned in the film. Ammas world-tour are missing as well. But this is outweighed by wonderful pictures of India and deep insights into the Indian culture and lifestyle.

This is a very beautiful film. If one is interested in the rich tradition of spirituality which has been preserved and is a living part of Indian culture, then this will give you a feel for that as well as any film can. If you know nothing about gurus and Indian philosophy then you are unlikely to learn much other than that Amritananda Mayi (Amma) is a sincere spiritual leader trying to save the world from itself. But if you have tasted the sweetness of spiritual life and especially if you are already a devotee, then this film will be a delightful, blissful experience as it does it's best to put divinity on record. The film doesn't do much to convince skeptics but then what would?

I would have liked to see more interview footage with Amma speaking and a clearer record of her amazing life.

As a disciple of Ammachi, I will begin by mentioning that this film does not contain a lot of information about Amma that would be helpful to someone who had no idea who she was prior to seeing this film. It could have done with a little more information about her countless charitable works (including schools, hospitals, homes for the poor and the list goes on and on) and perhaps a bit more biographical information and mention of the countless miracles and healings that have been attributed to her. Also, a little more explanation of what "darshan" actually is would have been helpful to those for whom this movie would be their first introduction to Amma.

Aside from this, I have found that Jan Kounen did an incredible job with capturing the essence of who Amma really is. The interesting camera angles and close-ups of Amma's facial expressions, truly captured the divine presence that one can feel while in her physical presence. I also really enjoyed that there was quite a bit of filming of Amma done in slow- motion. It was particularly incredible to witness her darshans at a slowed down speed...the nuances and intricacies of each 5 second hug, speak volumes when rendered in slow- motion.

There is quite a bit of poetic metaphor throughout the film as well, as can be seen in Kounen's choice of contrasting images of life, death, chaos, peace, human and God. Truly, the visuals are some of the most beautiful I have seen since Baraka.

All in all this film is a heart melting work of art for devotees of Amma, and a sweeping visual portrait-poem of one of the most amazing spiritual figures on the planet at this time. I don't think any film could truly convey who Amma is. It is something that must be experienced to be understood.

That said, stop in and get darshan for yourself the next time Amma is in your city. Then, watch the film again :)

This is a documentary about a spiritual woman in India, who could be described as a Hindu version of Mother Theresa. She is a practitioner of the path of service, which sees all people and beings as expressions of God.

I'll say here again what I've said about all the spiritual documentaries I have seen about Eastern religions and saints: You have to know what you're watching. Communicating the spiritual life on film is a real challenge, and probably cannot be done. But if you know what you're seeing, such documentaries are real gold. They're not going to convince you one way or the other, but they will show you real spirituality in action, at least what the camera can record.

I was disappointed that the film did not present a more rounded picture of this woman and her work, but that was a judgment call on the part of the director/writer. Perhaps he thought we would be overwhelmed by the goody goody quality of a woman who spends 24/7 hugging, feeding and caring for complete strangers.

At the very least, this film illustrates the vast potential we have as humans, a perspective that is grossly lacking in the American/Western world view.