This does contain a substantial amount of incredibly beautifully shot time-lapse footage and that is clearly the strongest aspect of the production. Unfortunately it does also feel derivative and superficial, at times even fake compared to some of the classics in this genre like Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka that it is clearly influenced by. It feels a bit like it is half way between those and Ashes and Snow to me. The parts portraying European cultures are clearly just role-play taking us at least a hundred years back.
One can't help but notice the almost total absence of older and the strong focus on young women. Life on earth ends up being portrayed as more of an endless party instead of the social commentary you get in something like Le Syndrome du Titanic or the spiritual-naturistic message of Samsara that you see the remnants of in the way which this imitates Fricke's works. On the audio side the soundtrack is not bad but not at the level of Philip Glass or Michael Stearns while (thankfully very limited) narration offered by Liv Tyler is even more out of place here than in Terence Malick's Voyage of Time. The sound effects should have been left out.
Overall I still enjoyed the beauty of it and I always love seeing new entries in this genre. My review's tone probably seems really harsh considering that but that is just due to the standard set by Ron Fricke and others.
Awaken
2018
Action / Drama / Music
Awaken
2018
Action / Drama / Music
Plot summary
Shot over a 5-year period in more than 35 countries, AWAKEN is a poetic exploration of existence, technology, time and memory. Executive-produced by cinema pioneers Terrence Mallick and Godfrey Reggio, and narrated by Liv Tyler, AWAKEN is an exploration of the Earth, a celebration of Existence, and an Ode to the Cosmos.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Not at the level of the classics in this genre
Random
First of all music completely doesn't match the atmosphere an pace of the footage. You get grand and loud cinematic strings already in 4th minute of the material with absolutely no buildup and no context.
Mix of pretty but totally random scenes that amount to nothing. It basically is a vimeo/instagram slomo B-roll stiched together as one long movie.
Pretty, but empty
It feels like a credit card commercial imitating a Qatsi film, or someone throwing all the New Age stereotypes at a camera. It's beautiful, but hollow.