Advanced Search Beta »
Basic Search Fields
Darshan: The Embrace
Metascore
55 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
view
per page
  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    Jan Kounen, the maker of Darshan, is a French director with flashy credentials, including music videos, commercials, horror shorts, violent gangster movies ("Dobermann") and offbeat westerns ("Blueberry").
  2. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    75
    Sebastien Pentecouteau's startlingly beautiful cinematography lends the film a dreamlike quality and perfectly suits Kounen's mystical subject matter.
  3. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    75
    Movies about gurus generally fail to capture the charisma of their subjects. French director Jan Kounen's documentary on Amma, India's hugging saint, who allegedly has given restorative embraces to more than 45 million supplicants, is no exception.
  4. Variety
    Reviewed by: Lisa Nesselson
    70
    Docu's pace will be a little too meditative for many, but the rigorous, sinewy lensing will have Hypnotic power on those so inclined.
  5. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    60
    Filling our heads with pretty pictures and not much else, Darshan: The Embrace is likely to leave audiences enchanted but unenlightened.
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    50
    When it comes to magnetism, the Rolling Stones have nothing on Amma, the Indian mahatma ("spiritual guide") chronicled in Jan Kounen's handsomely photographed but one-sided documentary.
  7. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: John McMurtrie
    50
    A loving if fawning documentary.
  8. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    50
    According to several sojourners who speak in the film, Amma is the embodiment of love. And according to her website, it's her religion, too.
  9. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Tim Grierson
    50
    Unless you're already a true believer, Amma comes across in Darshan as a perfect angel, a frustrating enigma and a rather dull cinematic subject.
  10. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    50
    While Amma's teachings of love, inner peace and Karma, or action, resonate in the film -- obviously, Amma is a woman called to God -- her background remains pretty much a mystery. Less National Geographic and more personal history would have added a dimension to "Darshan."
  11. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    50
    Scenes of pageantry and mass prayer show that thousands respond to her charisma, but Kounen gives little insight why; aside from Amma's belief that creator and creation are one, her religious tenets remain a mystery.
  12. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ben Kenigsberg
    40
    Werner Herzog's "Wheel of Time" was, in a sense, the Buddhist equivalent of this film, as well as a more illuminating look at the power and transience of ritual.
prev next
Page:
  • 1

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. juderobe
    2
    I wondered what was being said, I wondered why no subtitles. Maybe Netflixs has a dutch copy. The cinematography was very fine. But I found the documentary boring, uninvolving, and confusing. Does India really look that good? I admit I am ot a devotee of the subject.… Full Review »
  2. EllenJ.
    7
    Not a great documentary, but a "must see" for anyone who has been hugged by Ammachi and would like to imagine what it would be like to be in India with her. So much more could be have been said about the inner life of her devotees and their experiences with her.… Full Review »
  3. RonM.
    10
    This film is simply amazing! I would take any number of friends to view it. It's a piece of heaven on earth! Thank you!
See all user reviews »