In a world teetering on the edge of self destruction, award-winning filmmaker Velcrow Ripper sets out on a unique pilgrimmage. Visiting the 'Ground Zeros' of the planet, he asks if it's poss... Read allIn a world teetering on the edge of self destruction, award-winning filmmaker Velcrow Ripper sets out on a unique pilgrimmage. Visiting the 'Ground Zeros' of the planet, he asks if it's possible to find hope in the darkest moments of human history. Staring directly into the face ... Read allIn a world teetering on the edge of self destruction, award-winning filmmaker Velcrow Ripper sets out on a unique pilgrimmage. Visiting the 'Ground Zeros' of the planet, he asks if it's possible to find hope in the darkest moments of human history. Staring directly into the face of war, tragedy and instability, Ripper travels to the minefields of Cambodia; war-torn Af... Read all
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- 2 wins & 8 nominations total
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I saw it at opening night at The Carlton in Toronto. Mr. Ripper has a gentle, no B.S. way of exposing the truth, or at least his truth, about this troubled world of ours. The film is not AIMED AT any wrong-doers, it simply shows the situation, and asks us to open our hearts. His focus is on the positive, the hope, rather than on the bad guy; on what we can do right versus what they have done wrong. I prefer this to a Farenheit 9/11, where Moore, though extremely witty and brave, sometimes discards objectivity in his pursuit of a Gee Dubbya, or whoever happens to be his enemy of choice, and therefore misses the beauty of the human spirit in the face of all the world's 'ground zero' disasters.
Ripper should be thanked for telling his story, as should the many incredibly brave souls in the film who tell THEIR story.
Technically, I thought the cinematography, editing, and sound design, including the music, were highly creative.
For example - while explaining to a Palestinian border guard that he is on a mission to find hope for the future while in his country. The guard replies "you will not find hope here". Boom - cut to three children laughing and sitting on their porch. The best typo ever is seen in a shot from the Kabul Afghanistan airport. A sings prohibits you from bringing in "dangerous things like gasses and passions". They obviously mean poisons but passions can be dangerous there too.
Take the trip, you won't be disappointed.
I was most impressed with the VARIETIES of "sacredness" he discovered. There was a nice variation in the interpretations of what could be considered "sacred". I liked how he let the interview subjects speak for themselves. Not too much narration. However, this relative lack of narration did leave the viewer hanging at times. I wanted to know more about the filmmaker's personal experience.
Now I'm going to get all critical. I thought the film was a bit random. I sort of wished that he would have made it clearer when he was changing locations. A more structured approach might have been more effective. I also would have appreciated a bit of more of a synopsis of the "scary event" that happened in each location. Especially in the case of Bosnia, this would have been useful (I know I'm making myself look ignorant here). I found that the whole 9/11 issue got a lot more screen time than other locations. This annoyed me a bit, but I do understand why he did it: it's recent and it affected us all.
At times this film became about "religious responses to suffering" and things got a bit fuzzy. When you start talking about religious traditions it's hard to know where to "meet" your audience. It isn't safe to assume that the audience has knowledge of Buddhist or Hindu responses to suffering. However, it wouldn't be advisable to take up too much screen time with generalizations about religious doctrines.
Then the narrator alluded to his time with the Buddhists in the monasteries and his time with the Sufis. Footage of whirling dervishes seemed to be included for aesthetic value, which was a bit frustrating. Since the film was about responses to suffering and he said that he ended up spending time with Buddhists and Sufis, I was incredibly curious about WHY he spent time with these two groups and WHAT he got out of it! Did facing all this suffering make him more receptive to these traditions? What were their responses to his situation, or to "our" situation? I enjoyed this film. I'm glad it was made. I think the subject matter is relevant and compelling. There are scary things happening in the world and we're all coming to terms with them in our own ways. This film is a record of one man's journey. It was personal, but not too sappy. It didn't try to provide answers or easy happy endings, and that's what won me over.
It was personally touched by this film and it truly spoke to my heart. Having been raised in one of the "Ground Zero's" shown in the film, I found ScaredSacred surprisingly sincere and non-biased, and spiritually uplifting and transforming in a most positive and genuine way.
Velcrow Ripper's moving documentary film ScaredSacred is one of my favourite documentary films of all times.
A must see film!!!
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- Also known as
- Die Kräfte des Guten
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- Budget
- CA$498,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
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- 1.33 : 1