ShareThisBy PHIL VILLARREAL
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
It may have been Ari Gold on HBO's "Entourage" who coined the phrase "hug it out," but it's Indian guru Amma who lives it.
Amma, an open-faced, saintly middle-aged woman whose real name is Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, spreads a message of peace and charity that she drives home in hugs, her trademark method of darshan _ holy contact from a guru.
In "Darshan: The Embrace," Dutch director Jan Kounen documents Amma's loving embrace of her followers with detached wonder and overwhelming revelry.
It's simple to see what drew Kounen to the story. The spectacle is stunning: Thousands of patient followers stand in winding lines for their contact with Amma. She presides over gatherings for 20-hour stretches, hugging each of her followers one by one.
Kounen slowly pans her camera down crowded, grimy streets to give the audience a read of the poverty and despair in which many of Amma's followers endure. The director is also partial to slow-motion close-ups of Amma's followers glowing in reverie as soft music hums in the background.
Amma gives platitude-filled speeches, as well as spiritual, relationship and medical advice. A TV news report included in the documentary says Amma builds homes, orphanages and hospitals for the poor, and also gives out food. Kounen doesn't explain where the money comes from. He could have given his film more substance by wrapping his arms around some research material.
Scant background narration states that Amma has always been enlightened. As a child, she fell into trance-like states of bliss, and she was so generous, she gave away her food to hungry animals. Family members thought her crazy.
We never see how Amma rose from family outcast to become a well-regarded guru followed by millions. Surely, the guru must be a fountain of insight, but many of her quotes are banal.
This is Amma on the trend of ever-larger TV screens: "But as the screens get bigger, our hearts get smaller."
Even though Kounen doesn't reveal Amma's financial benefactors, we can be sure one of them is definitely not Best Buy.
2 stars out of 4
Rated: Not rated
Director: Jan Kounen
Family call: Nothing offensive, but the documentary is probably too dull for kids.
Running time: 92 minutes
(Read Phil Villarreal's blog at scrippsnews.com/philmguy and contact him at pvillarreal(at)azstarnet.com.)
