Amma in Darshan
directed by Jan Kounen
Amma in Darshan
directed by Jan Kounen
BOOKS
Yoga Beneath the Surface
By Srivatsa Ramaswami & David Hurwitz
(Marlowe & Company)
Which yoga poses help you sleep better? What’s the purpose of chanting? How can you keep up a yoga practice during times of crisis? In Yoga Beneath the Surface, instructor David Hurwitz poses nearly 250 of such questions to Srivatsa Ramaswami, a former student of the father of modern yoga (Sri T. Krishnamacharya). By sharing the transcripts of their e-mail conversations, Hurwitz and Ramaswami aim to mimic the student-teacher dialogue that they consider essential to nurturing a yoga practice.
Intended to bridge the gap between introductory yoga books and “classical Indian commentaries,” Yoga Beneath the Surface delves deep into yoga philosophy (including a section on cultivating vairagya, or nonattachment) and gets into the hows and whys of breathing exercises, meditation techniques and poses (such as how long to stay in headstand). Although the beginner or casual yogi may get lost as the authors expound profusely on matters of manomaya (mind space), gnana (pure consciousness) and samyak darsana (perfect perception), the book’s Q & A format makes it easy to pick and choose the sections with which to bend both your body and mind. —Elizabeth Barker
MUSIC
Dog Gone Classical Music:
Mozart Music to Soothe Your Four-Legged Friends
(doggoneclassicalmusic.com)
If Fido gets a little depressed when he’s left alone in the house, try soothing his separation anxiety with a little Dog Gone Classical Music. Based on the widely held belief that classical music relieves stress, this disk offers up mollifying Mozart infused with sounds of nature. Perfect for those (four- and two-legged alike) who enjoy their Symphony No. 5 layered with the soothing sound of rainfall or a bird chirp-saturated Serenade No. 9. —Jessica Ridenour
FILM
Darshan, The Embrace
Directed by Jan Kounen
For release info, visit ifcfilms.com
In 2003, Paris-based director Jan Kounen traveled to India to attend the 50th-birthday celebration of Amma, the “hugging saint” who reportedly has embraced more than 26 million people in her lifetime. Darshan—the resulting documentary, which also chronicles Amma’s tours through North India and Europe—emerges as a dreamy, if slightly disordered, exploration of Amma’s devotion to her followers and of her ethereal ability to dissolve all those around her into giddy rapture.
Rather than building a narrative with Darshan, Kounen gives us many long, sweeping, silent shots (of palm trees, the Ganges, crowded village streets) without much context. We have to grab for whatever little pieces of story get tossed our way, whether it’s through grainy footage of Amma licking a leper’s sores, news clips revealing that she’s started up hospitals and orphanages and housing projects, or an interview with a childhood friend who tells of how Amma used to give away her food to birds and animals.
Ultimately, we’re left longing for more time with Amma, whose warm, open face radiates pure bliss in nearly every moment caught on camera. It’s a joy just to watch her break into glorious, love-filled smiles over and over again, emanating a superhuman compassion that makes us understand why one of her disciples deems Amma “irrefutable proof that love truly exists.” —EB
Mardi Gras: Made in China
Produced, directed, edited and filmed by David Redmon
For release dates, visit: Mardigrasmadeinchina.com
Mardi Gras: Made in China is the latest in the recent trend of sincere, even-handed documentaries that are wresting the genre away from Michael Moore. This one’s an especially smart profile juxtaposing the young, exploited women in Fuzhou, China, who make plastic Mardi Gras beads with the privileged New Orleans tourists who bare their breasts to acquire them.
The film’s success is due to one-man-band David Redmon, the Texas native with a PhD in sociology and a lifelong interest in Carnival festivals, whose brain birthed this film. The naturally curious Redmon elicits candid, informative, intimate interviews from impoverished workers, the wealthy factory owner and drunken Mardi Gras revelers, all of whom seem to be responding to the same unbiased affection Redmon used in the editing process.
The result is a quick, engaging snapshot of globalization and its effect on seemingly unconnected cultures. What it isn’t, luckily, is a moralistic lesson on the dangers of capitalism and excess. Instead, by showing footage of China to revelers on Bourbon Street, showing footage of New Orleans to workers in China, and showing the film to everyone he can, Redmon hopes to “open up a visual connection between two people who seemingly have nothing to do with each other.” “It provides a visual bridge,” he said.
Should conditions in China change? Absolutely, said Redmon. But he doesn’t mean to rain on anyone’s Fat Tuesday parade. “The issue goes beyond the individual,” he explained. “It’s an international system of trade.”
—Molly Freedenberg