1 Giant Leap
Picture: B- Sound: A- Extras: C Film: B+
One decade after Ron
Fricke’s amazing 1992 film Baraka, a similar film would explore some of
the same thematic elements with a more narrative structure. That film would be Duncan Bridgeman and
Jamie Catto’s 2002 surprisingly refreshing and enjoyable film One Giant Leap,
which would be a CD/DVD project from the beginning. Similar also to Baraka
this film would consist of footage from 20 locations in 20 different countries
around the world, but shot in DV versus the glorious 70mm (Todd AO process)
used on Fricke’s picture.
Unlike Baraka though,
this film would incorporate cultural music performed by some of the most
significant musicians from their respectable countries. Also in contrast would be the fact that this
film would integrate dialogue from thinkers, artists, actors, and scientists
all over the world as well in an attempt to explore our diversity. Ron Fricke came from a background working as
a cinematographer for Godfrey Reggio’s unique Koyaanisqatsi (1983),
which would also combine music and images in an attempt to captivate the viewer
into a coma-like state watching the non-narrative take form before your very
eyes. The reason that mentioning these
two spectacular films for this review is that One Giant Leap in many
ways combines some of the trademarks from these two films and attempts to
answer some of the questions brought forth by those two cinematic
achievements.
One Giant Leap is broken down into segments, which can be viewed
all together or as individual clips and there is also a jukebox mode, which
allows the viewer to pick and chose the order.
The segments are as follows:
Time (11:23)
“No one gets to vote on
whether or not technology is going to change our lives” –Bill Gates
Masks (9:07)
“There will be a time
to put on a face to meet the faces that you meet” –T.S. Eliot
Money (15:09)
“The meek shall inherit
the Earth, but not the mineral rights”
–J.P. Getty
Confrontation (9:56)
“Man’s the only animal
that blushes or needs to” –Mark
Twain
God
Faith (14:28)
“If
at first an idea isn’t absurd there is no hope for it” –Albert Einstein
Blasphemy
(10:46)
“All
great truths begin as blasphemies”
–G.B. Shaw
Unity (10:47)
“We
must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools” –Martin Luther King
Inspiration (11:00)
“This is what comes
though us” –From the Greek
Sex (9:13)
“I want freedom, I want
sin” –Aldous Huxley
Death (13:48)
“While I thought that I
was learning to live, I have been learning how to die” –Da Vinci
Happy (9:40)
“That’s one small step
for man, one giant leap for mankind”
–Neil Armstrong
Each segments starts off
with the quotes above and address that quote within the material with various
clips, musical themes, interviews, or other methods in order to solve or
attempt to solve the issues at hand in the world at its current state. The filmmakers obviously see something wrong
with this current state and although they may not have the answers, they take
the medium that they know best and interject some spectacular uses of editing,
raw footage, and modern interviews to link together the world’s thoughts
through these avenues.
Whether or not these
questions are answered is not the point, but rather that we (the viewer) at least
contemplate some solutions. That on an
individual level we think and try to make sense of what goes on around us. We cannot alone make for a change, but
collectively we can certainly make a dent in our future. The film addresses the idea that we must not
only think about ourselves, but the future.
We live in a fast paced world where change happens before we realize it
has happened. The moment is now and
the faster we get, the faster things become, but we cannot get in such a hurry
that we forget essential things in life.
We cannot forget to enjoy what we have and also to think in terms of
global network not just today, but for tomorrow and for tomorrow’s
tomorrow.
In terms of the DVD One
Giant Leap comes to us through Palm Pictures, which marks not only one of
their best titles to date, but also one of their best DVD’s in terms of overall
quality. Presented in a 1.85:1 aspect
ratio this is one of the best-looking DVD’s in terms of the consistency that comes
through despite being various types of footage pulled together. There can be a softness at times, not to
mention some lack of depth and definition, but this is hardly a problem given
the nature of this particular film. The
biggest problem comes mostly from the source, which is the DV itself that
cannot quite compare to the dimension of film.
DV still looks flat and colors never seem to have the thickness or
richness as with film.
More important than the
‘look’ of this film is its sound, which is brought forth on DVD in two ways:
the Dolby Digital Stereo mix or a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. While both handle the materials more subtle
interview portions, the stereo mix is no match for the multi-channel mix on the
music segments. In fact this is one of
the best sounding Dolby only discs out there, which ranks up near that of Apocalypse
Now Redux or Monster’s Inc.
Although this soundtrack is very clear and energized it does lack some
of the definition that could be offered by a separate DTS audio option, but no
such option exists, which only holds back the overall impact of the piece just
a hair.
Some of the artists that
appear are Neneh Cherry, Dennis Hopper, Baaba Maal, Michael Stipe, Kurt
Vonnegut, and Robbie Williams. Jamie
Cotto, who co-directed this film, is also a member of the techno/dance group
Faithless, which incorporates some of its worldviews and political stances
within the context of its music endeavors.
So perhaps it is safe to say that Cotto has now found two outlets to
voice his views, this one being slightly more advanced and perhaps even more
successful.
This DVD also offers
another viewing mode called ‘Explore Mode’, which enable the viewer to see
making of material while the film plays out.
This making of section automatically plays out. There are also two bonus videos including
“Braided Hair” featuring Neneh Cherry, Speech, and Ulali. The second video is from Robbie Williams and
Maxi Jazz with the song “My Culture”.
The entire runtime for One Giant Leap is approximately 155
minutes, but with extras including this film could be nearly twice that
length.
Since films like Baraka
and Koyaanisqatsi never took the advantages of dialogue or narration,
but simply let the images speak for themselves, while the music was the perfect
married making these two separate entities one working body. One Giant Leap is more vocal, more
direct, but slightly less intoxicating about its subject matter, which some may
enjoy. It can be just as thought
provoking within its own context, but leaves little to imagine outside of that
world, whereas the other two films leave the viewer contemplating and repeating
images over and over throughout their days.
One might wonder what type
of audience this particular film is aimed at, but those who are entertained by
thought or some sort of intellectual stimulus, then this is your spot. Certainly fans of Godfrey Reggio’s Qatsi
series, will find a home here as well as those admirers of Ron Fricke’s Baraka. Perhaps this will also reach out to those
interested in diverse music and cultural pieces. This also certainly wets the appetite of those who take an
interest in specialty products as this film and DVD offer some unique material,
with a nice DVD in terms of overall delivery especially in the audio
department. Extras make this as well-spent
investment and serious modern libraries will want this as part of their
catalog.
- Nate Goss
