Documentary Review

            Varanasi, India: “Beyond” documents the journey of a few enthusiastic photographers over the period of two weeks while they attempt to capture the essence of the Sadhu monks to include in their latest photo series, “Holy Men.” Filmmaker Cale Glendening documents the photographers Joey, and Ryan as they immerse themselves in the culture while taking photos. The documentary first opens up with some dusk shots of a river with lit candles bobbing in the water. Then you are taken through the travel period of the photographers who had a 40-hour trip to get to Varanasi. The film then progresses to capture the essence of Sadhu Indean culture and how the photographers establish relationships with the people they took pictures of. They eat and sleep with these people and even join in a few festivals.

            The photos were taken with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Phase One P65+ DIGI Back. On average by the 4^th day there, they were getting one good photo a day. This was after hours of trial and error with lighting, positioning, backgrounds and setting up the shot overall. While wanting a great photo, they had to respect the needs of these monks while taking care of themselves in the new environment. Joey got sick during the trip after eating hand made food and the weather wasn’t always on their side.

            The documentary overall was very well done and with his professional camera and a lot of time Cale accurately portrayed the natural beauty of Varanasi. The music was appropriate and was generally calm which translated very well with the footage of meditating monks. The cool thing about this documentary was it was all done on the spot with very little staging. There was no makeup or acting, or specific costumes except for the photographer’s regular cloths and the vibrant garbs worn by the Sadhu.

            I believe Cale made this documentary to not only tell the stories of these photographers but to display to the outside world the cultural differences of these monks. It portrayed a different life style, a life style without the influences of money and power. I believe that this film can have a big impact on people watching it because it shows us that it is possible to live without all of the “necessities” we have today.

            I would definitely recommend this documentary to anyone who enjoys photography and film making because it is the epitome of both areas. One good technique that Cale uses is to periodically show some of the pictures that were taken in their finished state because the documentary is mainly focused on behind the scene’s action. I also think the way he incorporated title slides into the video was very artistic and added to the mystic aura of the Sadhu. This is not a very big scale production and will not make movie theaters or become that popular but I believe the film was very powerful and that it displayed key messages that are relevant to our lives today.

Varanasi, India: "Beyond" 43:07 (No Rating)