Watch Darshan - The Embrance For Free

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

I suppose for devotees this is an orgy of staring at a beloved spiritual guide. However, for those of us who are not, there is precious little to maintain interest. I had hoped, at least, for a glimpse of another culture but what I got a very long snapshot of a cult. Thin soup and little depth. I suppose the music may be least offensive to the non-follower, but even that becomes so repetitive that in the end it is useless.Perhaps I am taking the wrong view of this. During my university experience in the 70s conceptual art took the stage. I remember seeing a film of a person crushing a cockroach to a brown smear on their naked abdomen. This received high praise for its lack of directedness or something. So this film may rank highly as a tribute to those old art pieces from thirty years ago.

This is a very beautiful film. If one is interested in the rich tradition of spirituality which has been preserved and is a living part of Indian culture, then this will give you a feel for that as well as any film can. If you know nothing about gurus and Indian philosophy then you are unlikely to learn much other than that Amritananda Mayi (Amma) is a sincere spiritual leader trying to save the world from itself. But if you have tasted the sweetness of spiritual life and especially if you are already a devotee, then this film will be a delightful, blissful experience as it does it's best to put divinity on record. The film doesn't do much to convince skeptics but then what would? I would have liked to see more interview footage with Amma speaking and a clearer record of her amazing life.

As a disciple of Ammachi, I will begin by mentioning that this film does not contain a lot of information about Amma that would be helpful to someone who had no idea who she was prior to seeing this film. It could have done with a little more information about her countless charitable works (including schools, hospitals, homes for the poor and the list goes on and on) and perhaps a bit more biographical information and mention of the countless miracles and healings that have been attributed to her. Also, a little more explanation of what "darshan" actually is would have been helpful to those for whom this movie would be their first introduction to Amma.Aside from this, I have found that Jan Kounen did an incredible job with capturing the essence of who Amma really is. The interesting camera angles and close-ups of Amma's facial expressions, truly captured the divine presence that one can feel while in her physical presence. I also really enjoyed that there was quite a bit of filming of Amma done in slow- motion. It was particularly incredible to witness her darshans at a slowed down speed...the nuances and intricacies of each 5 second hug, speak volumes when rendered in slow- motion. There is quite a bit of poetic metaphor throughout the film as well, as can be seen in Kounen's choice of contrasting images of life, death, chaos, peace, human and God. Truly, the visuals are some of the most beautiful I have seen since Baraka. All in all this film is a heart melting work of art for devotees of Amma, and a sweeping visual portrait-poem of one of the most amazing spiritual figures on the planet at this time. I don't think any film could truly convey who Amma is. It is something that must be experienced to be understood. That said, stop in and get darshan for yourself the next time Amma is in your city. Then, watch the film again :)

I am so very upset about this. I have been an Amma devotee for years now and I have to wait months to see this film and even then I have to travel over 150 miles to get there!!! I have checked several websites and it looks like it is only playing in a scattering of theaters across the country and, interestingly, over a period of a few months. Like there is only one copy of the film or something. Whats up with that? Also, I am wondering if I will be able to get a version of this for my home. I wonder if they are going to release it on DVD. I have a few other films on Amma but they aren't big productions. I have high hopes for this one. I can only keep my fingers crossed and wait and wait and wait until September when I will finally get to view the film.