Synopsis:
THE WHITE DIAMOND: Werner Herzog has a taste for absurd personal missions, especially those involving a human struggle against nature. From characters like Aguirre--the Spaniard who searches for a...
THE WHITE DIAMOND: Werner Herzog has a taste for absurd personal missions, especially those involving a human struggle against nature. From characters like Aguirre--the Spaniard who searches for a hidden city of gold in Peru, to Fitzcarraldo--who wants to build an opera house in the Amazon rain forest, Herzog is friend to all doomed endeavors and mad poets of disaster. In WHITE DIAMOND, Dr. Graham Dorrington is the visionary scientist at the heart of an excursion into the jungles of Guyana. An aeronautics expert, Dorrington has designed an airship for exploring the rain forest canopy. But his motivations are not entirely scientific: a friend's death during a similar experiment years before still haunts him, driving him to atone for the violence of what he calls a "stupid, meaningless accident." Herzog's camera bears witness to Dorrington as he rhapsodizes about the beauty of the silent flight above the forest, and the childlike enthusiasm with which he approaches his craft. Dorrington's curious, inventive mind, shaped by Western science and imbued with the sensibilities of an artist--a combination on which Herzog embellishes--is contrasted with that of Mark Anthony, a Rastafarian native who watches the proceedings with a bemused smile. His poetic presence provides another take on humanity's place in nature, endowed as he is with a mystical transcendence unseen in the Western world. The imprint of Herzog's subjectivity is what makes the documentary work, and here the choice of subject matter lends itself perfectly to the director's favorite themes. The otherworldly creatures which he magnificently photographs in the treetops become a symphony of the terrible beauty of nature, while his characters narrate the heroic and winsome attempts of humanity to reconcile itself with nature's uncontrollable power.
THE WHEEL OF TIME: The title of this Werner Herzog documentary refers to the Kalachakra Mandala, the intricate sand painting meant to help the faithful visualize the interior plane. It is at the heart of the Buddhist initiation ceremony in Bodh Gaya, India, which Herzog reverently records here. The spiritual realm is virtually impossible to capture on film, but Herzog has managed to do just that, creating a lyrical, mystical visual poem. He interweaves footage of pilgrims traveling to the ceremony in prostration, a pilgrimage to the holy Mount Kailash, and numerous monks participating in the rituals. One young monk buys a small bird only to let it fly away, symbolizing the freedom of all beings. Everywhere, monks and laypeople are deeply meditating, chanting, and praying. The Dalai Lama makes an appearance in a fascinating and humorous interview with Herzog, and also performs rituals and leads the faithful in prayer. The final part of the film takes place in Austria, where the Dalai Lama conducts the same rituals in a markedly contrasting environment. Much of the film becomes a hypnotic sea of faces as Herzog's camera makes its way through the crowds. The multiplicity of individuals seen only briefly reinforces the symbolic nature of the Mandala itself: when the ceremony is complete, the painting is destroyed and its sand granules are scattered, representing the ephemeral nature of life.
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