Samsara is one of those films that helps find answers to eternal questions one has been asking unconsciously for a long time. What makes our earthly existence worthwhile? How do we achieve self-perfection and purification? Are we capable of self-direction and self-fulfillment? The camera ushers us into the unknown to the Westerner world of Buddhist monks in the astonishingly contrastive and majestic landscape of Himalayas. A procession of lamas reaches for the mountain to bring back from long meditation Tashi - a young monk who is to become a lama. Tashi is brought back to the monestery but instead of continuing his quest for Nirvana, he falls victim to his sexual awakening and realizes that there are other ways to achieve enlightment. He abandons the monestery and his spiritual teacher Apo to marry the beautiful Pema whom he met during a harvest blessing. Thus, Tashi enters Samsara - the world of sensual desires and never-ending cycle of life and death, joy and sorrow. He is now faced with a much more complex environment he seems unprepared to cope with. His wife Pema becomes his new spiritual leader into this new world of countless desires. The film is a real cinematographic masterpiece. The setting of the Buddhist temple, the change of seasons and colour in the Himalayas, the costumes and customs of local people create a picturesque delight to the eye. The sensual love scences and Tantric paintings add to the wholeness of the picture. If you seek refuge from the mainstream Holywood production, Samsara is a must to see.
Review of Samsara
