By Dominic Preston.
It would not be unfair to suggest that Manakamana is a bit of a slow burner. This unusual documentary features nothing but footage of the passengers taking the 10-minute cable car journey to and from the Manakamana temple in Nepal. Each journey is presented in full, with no cuts or edits, from a static camera, giving rather unique glimpses into the lives of the varied people visiting the temple.
Manakamana makes its intentions clear from the start, as its opening two segments are entirely free of dialogue, giving the audience the chance to simply soak in the scenery and study the expressions of the silent passengers. If you can pass this test of your patience, there are more immediately accessible segments to come, from a group of three Nepalese metalheads with an incongruous kitten to an impromptu musical performance towards the end. One segment even abandons its human cast entirely, to instead feature four goats nervously making the journey.
Free of the usual documentary staples of talking heads or narration, the film instead simply presents each ten-minute snapshot of a life as is, before the arrival at the cable car station seamlessly fades us into the next participant. Some offer unique insight into Nepalese life. Many reflect on the changes and modernizations to the area that the cable car represents. Others simply show us how similar the mundanities of life can be across cultures, from eating ice cream to idle observations on the scenery outside.
Patience is required, and the film’s achingly slow pace certainly won’t be for everyone. The reward for your patience isn’t startlingly deep insight, but rather a calm, undramatized look at life on the other side of the world. Interesting enough for those who can stick with it, but likely to seem terrifyingly dull to the easily distracted.
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