Beautifully photographed in dazzling colors and with hypnotic chanting music... .
Comment
10/31/07
Vajra Sky Over Tibet (2006)
55 %
Reviews Counted: 20 Fresh: 11 Rotten:9 Average Rating: 6.3/10
Runtime: 89 mins
Synopsis: The Buddhist community in Tibet forms the focus for this documentary, which eschews interview footage and instead relies on moving pictures and a soundtrack by local musicians to tell its tale. [More]
Genre: Education/General Interest
Director: John Bush
Reviews
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
In order for audiences to better appreciate the underpinnings of Buddhism and the risks involved with modern-day practice in Tibet, the man who made Vajra would've needed to get his documentarian's hands a little dirty.
11/30/06
Not only the year's best documentary, but it is also among the finest films ever made about religion.
11/08/06
However honorable the intent, Bush's epic journey carries all the raw, visceral excitement of watching someone else's holiday slides.
10/12/06
Eventually you can't help wishing for some human contact. While the lulling narration by Bush and two exiled Tibetans is informative, it doesn't quite fill the gap.
09/29/06
Provoking more ideas than it presents, Vajra Sky Over Tibet is a sketchy introduction to a fascinating subject.
09/28/06
The images of gods and ordinary Tibetans that Bush captures are more eloquent that his turgid narration, and overall the film works better as a travelogue than an introduction to Tibetan Buddhist beliefs or history.
09/15/06
Vajra Sky Over Tibet demonstrates one alternative for moviemaking inside Tibet: the rhetorically inflated vacation video.
09/15/06
Top Critic
It’s a loving effort, and an important addition to the body of films about this extraordinary, sacred region of the world.
09/13/06
A well-photographed inside look at a fascinating culture and its people.
09/13/06
Top Critic
Traditions of 'wisdom' and 'compassion' are talked about in 'Vajra Sky Over Tibet,' but a non-storyline film must be at a loss to image such concepts.
09/09/06
A gorgeous, meandering travelogue that only gradually bares its teeth.
09/08/06
... feel more like the kind of underground political exposes that have previously captured life under the Taliban or the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-il.
09/08/06
A tonic for Buddhists, no doubt, it offers many pleasures to atheists as well.
09/07/06
[A]n illuminating meditation on that deepest of Buddhist philosophical concerns -- impermanence.
09/06/06
Top Critic
[A] reverential act of bearing witness to a culture and religion being systematically erased...
09/06/06
An extraordinary and enthralling documentary about the richness of Tibetan Buddhism and the current threats to its continued existence in its homeland.
09/06/06
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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