Just watched the movie "A monk with a camera" and then read some of the comments. An image is an image and has its own footprint into your experiences and reverberates into your soul. I am totally oblivious on buddhism but was intrigued by the title and then decided to give it a try. I was not let down, because there is emotion, there is humbleness and there is the strive to follow the path of a westerner into buddhism. Based on circumstances you could not have predicted the future of Nicholas Vreeland as becoming a highly regarded monk, based on family upbringing even less. It proved, that life has its own signs and bumps and incredible turns, just not be a spectator, participate and do more than a leaf blown by the wind. The movie has cinematic qualities because images captured by Nicholas Vreeland have simplicity, power dynamism (even in portraits) and a historical background which is still mysterious for majority of viewers. It helps to add iconic images of well known friends, but, hey, badge appeal is needed sometimes!
There are a few scenes which totally change the descriptive tone of the movie. You can sense uncensored enlightenment, like absorbing light from sun, being happy and attentive in the same time, on capturing any sense of that moment - meeting Dalai Lama to appoint him as the head of the new monastery. Or his relationship with his mentor, it's an incredible parable of life - the frailty and power of life on altering other's people life in major ways.
The movie is touching the split life of a monk from the modern life in light touches and does not outline the ebb and flow of the human spirit on any sides. Sometimes the "actor" Nicolas Vreeland is no longer in the eye of the lens, it does not act for the viewer, it just carries away with the task at hand, you can sense his soul already passed somewhere else, and the physical presence is the only participating in the movie - and that is transcending and thought pausing. The whole body composure is no longer "lens" pleasing, it becomes folded in an energy which you only can sense is not part of your understanding.
Incidentally, in my blog, I mentioned another photographer showing Tibet and his scenic travels, and the texts added by Dalai Lama. What do you do with a country which was dissolved by Chinese invasion and their (Tibet) leaders forced in exile? The temporary residence in India is connected with Lato monastery and the increasing flux of monks which forced Nicholas to build a large establishment.
Behind the cinematic story, the spiritual evolution of westerner Nicholas Vreeland as a monk, there is a silence resilience lead by Dalai Lama in maintaining Tibet as alive and united in people's mind. Mr. Vreeland was not part of the plan but became an important cog as revealed by circumstances. If you watch the extras with Dalai Lama's comments on comparing China's communism and Tibet history and follow the tread of thought you may sense the urgency of increasing Tibet continuity in any possible way.
There are a few scenes which totally change the descriptive tone of the movie. You can sense uncensored enlightenment, like absorbing light from sun, being happy and attentive in the same time, on capturing any sense of that moment - meeting Dalai Lama to appoint him as the head of the new monastery. Or his relationship with his mentor, it's an incredible parable of life - the frailty and power of life on altering other's people life in major ways.
The movie is touching the split life of a monk from the modern life in light touches and does not outline the ebb and flow of the human spirit on any sides. Sometimes the "actor" Nicolas Vreeland is no longer in the eye of the lens, it does not act for the viewer, it just carries away with the task at hand, you can sense his soul already passed somewhere else, and the physical presence is the only participating in the movie - and that is transcending and thought pausing. The whole body composure is no longer "lens" pleasing, it becomes folded in an energy which you only can sense is not part of your understanding.
Incidentally, in my blog, I mentioned another photographer showing Tibet and his scenic travels, and the texts added by Dalai Lama. What do you do with a country which was dissolved by Chinese invasion and their (Tibet) leaders forced in exile? The temporary residence in India is connected with Lato monastery and the increasing flux of monks which forced Nicholas to build a large establishment.
Behind the cinematic story, the spiritual evolution of westerner Nicholas Vreeland as a monk, there is a silence resilience lead by Dalai Lama in maintaining Tibet as alive and united in people's mind. Mr. Vreeland was not part of the plan but became an important cog as revealed by circumstances. If you watch the extras with Dalai Lama's comments on comparing China's communism and Tibet history and follow the tread of thought you may sense the urgency of increasing Tibet continuity in any possible way.
Comments