FilmVomit

The trees of this forest have burned, and a red kite falls into the river.
The sacred and the profane are fucking in the corner.
Death is beginning to look like life, and a red kite falls into the river.

The film is possessed of a structure and cohesion that make it aesthetically inimitable. The interconnectedness of life- the looping, lyrical cycle of the world, from birth to death to rebirth and so on. There is nothing extra and nothing missing, all of the pieces are present and functioning in their capacity. Every interaction between parts of the whole is meaningful because it is required to be such- there is no differentiation between the parts of life because all of life is sacred. Death is treated with special reverence, but so is the crafting of playthings, the laughter of the elders, the play of children. Kites are constructed with the same care and worshipful attitude as funeral pyres, marigolds are tended with the same veneration as the candles of a shrine. Everything has its ritual and every ritual has its meaning, and through the rituals; be they holy or profane; transcendent existence can be achieved. The rituals possess meaning but they also create meaning where there would perhaps be none.
The film is beautiful in that it is unforced. Everything simply is, everything is allowed to exist and is inter-cut with a degree of grace that makes everything else in the world seem crass. The metaphors are not forced but are rather observed- there is no creation of metaphor, but rather an observant eye to catch the meanings that exist on another plane from the direct interaction with the world. The kites, especially the crash of a kite into the water at the moment a body is gently pushed in as well, could have become heavy handed or overwrought but instead are treated with delicacy. The entire cycle of life is laid bare in the city of Benares, it would seem. Everyone who cares to watch can see the progress of life through all of its stages. There is no hiding because there is nothing to hide- life and death are not private things to be hidden from and to hide away. Life is all there is, and death is only the beginning of new life, so there is no reason to fear the end. The end comes for all and all must eventually address it face to face. If it is present in all things, then it loses any association with fear, it loses all stigma. To face death with humility and acceptance rather than with fear and rejection seems to be a far more lucid understanding of the natural progression of things, and also to be a more mindful interaction with the course of life and the way of nature. There is a cycle, rather than a beginning and an end.
By treating his subject matter with a great deal of reverence and respect, Gardner is able to achieve something that is hard to deny; unflinchingly honest and thus incredibly moving. He says himself that there is a “phenomenon where actuality outperforms imagination, outfables the fabulous.” It is only through careful and deliberate removal of his own ego that he can find this phenomenon. He sets himself aside and allows the events of the world to transpire before him. He does not dictate but simply places himself in a situation where he will see things that will appeal to his aesthetic. There is less artifice here, and more art.

Forest of Bliss