Baraka!!

Baraka...the word itself was foreign to me, yet it brings a sense of  "Lion king'" being reborn.
Thanks to Google, I now know that "Baraka" means blessing in various languages including Hebrew, Arabic and other Arabic-derived lingual. The French understand it as "luck", which is quite similar to "blessing".

In the beginning of the movie, there was a scene showing monkeys bathing in a hot spring. This scene shows the monkey (Japanese macaques) portraying human behavior, which is the ability to relax and enjoy life. On a note of religion, in terms of this "religious" movie, I think the monkey and human are similar in many ways because we are of the same creator, which is our Father in heaven.

--> notice the similarity between them? that's why it reminds me of Lion King. : D

In my opinion, the movie is not for everyone, meaning it can be quite dry and boring at times. However, the background music did help in keeping me awake. The music also brings a pinch of new age religion to it. At certain scenes when the people are worshiping, the music is quite eerie.

Nevertheless, Baraka brings a clear message: Religion affects Lifestyle.
The author included many scenery of places to give us an idea on the geological setting. Besides that, I also saw   many different culture in the movie. 
For example, the Japanese believe in Ying and Yang, therefore they have a Zen Garden in their backyard. They also seem to enjoy peace and serenity compared to other races in the world.

There is a a turning point in the movie, from the beginning where religion is part of everyday's daily routine, to the period where technology cannot be separated from their lives. We can say that in modern times, work has replaced their time for prayers and rituals. In the second part of Baraka, we can see that without religion men tend to stray away from God and morality.

To be frank, although I did not enjoy it much but I definitely learnt from it. Baraka has been an eye opener, as I got to see different  lifestyles of many ingeniousness tribes. I was reminded, even with technology we must always remember to take care of our environment. I also feel that religion can still be part of our life although we are in modern times.

Watching Baraka is like a lesson on Semiology, it's like learning a new language; the Science of Signs.