Simply Perfect

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I had heard of Burning Man over the years, but never paid it much attention. As do many people, I just assumed that it was mainly a gathering of ex-hippies to get together to take drugs and have sex. This movie disabused me of that idea. I was impressed with the dedication of most participants to provide creative works of art, some of them quite stunning. I was taken with the one sculpture of a female form that was transparent and could be lighted from the inside. I think that ultimately became a public sculpture.Another sequence detailed the creation of a large 12' metal heart that had metal scales that allowed people to enter the inside. The amount of work and skill that went into that I am thinking exemplified what went into each of the hundreds of projects. There were a lot of fun projects shown as well, like a metal-framed snail that motored around, and a large ship. Lights and sounds abound as well as every imaginable dress (or lack thereof).This is no trivial festival. The 2012 Burning Man, filmed here, drew over 60,000 participants. Assembling that many people without total chaos, especially in an environment encouraging free expression, is a testament to the skills of the organizers and the quality of the participants. As shown, there were five people working full time throughout the year to organize this, as well as hundreds of volunteers. There were some behind the scenes frictions noted, but nothing of significance when considering the scope of this festival.The highlight is of course the burning of the figure that the festival takes its name from. With sixty thousand people surrounding the man at night the light show, fireworks, and the ultimate burning came through as a spectacular event. The reaction must be primitive, dating to cavemen dancing around fires. I can hardly imagine how powerful the actual experience was for those who were there. Trying to understand the significance of having put such great effort into constructing the man only to burn it caused me to scratch my head a bit. I suppose it is meant to illustrate the transience of existence and all physical things. Maybe the effort to provide 60,000 people with a memorable experience is reason enough.There are ten principles that underpin this festival. The two that I find most interesting are the ban on money and commercialization and leaving the desert in as good or better shape after the festival as it was before.The film quality and sound of the movie are good. I am sure that trying to capture more than a small taste of this event is impossible, but I think I got enough of a flavor of it to be able to counter anyone who might try to denigrate it.

I have Netflix streaming movies and I came upon this title recently. I started out knowing nothing of the "Burning Man" phenomenon, however I heard on the news last week (the 2014 edition just finished) that one person died after being run over by a vehicle. When you see the film you realize how easy that is.What is "Burning Man"? Well it started in 1986 with 20 people on Baker Beach in San Francisco. They burned a wooden man. By 1991 there was 250 and they had moved to Black Rock, public desert land in Nevada. By 1997 there were 10,000, by 2000 there were 25,000, and now they are up to near 70,000. At the end, at night is always a burning of a wooden man, in recent years with pyrotechnics too. But what is "Burning Man" all about? Their website says things like "You belong here and you participate. You're there to breathe art. Imagine the man, greeting you, neon and benevolence, watching over the community. You're here to build a community that needs you and relies on you. You're here to survive. You're here to create. Since nobody at Burning Man is a spectator, you're here to build your own new world. You're here to experience. You're here to celebrate. On Saturday night, we'll burn the Man. As the procession starts, the circle forms, and the man ignites, you experience something personal, something new to yourself, something you've never felt before. It's an epiphany, it's primal, it's newborn. And it's completely individual."When you watch the film you see a strange assortment of people in a strange range of clothing. Or costumes. Or nothing on at all. It seems that nothing is off limits as long as it isn't clearly illegal or an affront to another person. It is in the desert, it is hot, dry, and dusty. But everyone there seems to be having a good time. With little sleep.But all this happens only through a very high level of organization and planning. Tickets to the event, for those who can get them, were $380 in 2013, plus $40 for a vehicle permit. If you assume 58,000 pay, at an average of $400 each, that brings in a bit over $23 Million. That is a big, expensive event. But if you also look at expenses, for 2013 it totaled about $27 Million. Just the cost of the Black Rock permit is $4.5 Million. The cost of the week is about $11 Million. And, yearly about $7 Million is allocated to "payroll". But what exactly is "Burning Man"? I'm not really sure, and I don't intend to try to experience it. This film does a pretty good job of showing some of its history, many of the people involved in making it happen, and footage from the 2012 event. Worth a viewing for anyone who is curious about "Burning Man."

Each year, 60,000 people from around the globe gather in a dusty windswept Nevada desert to build a temporary city, collaborating on large-scale art and partying for a week before burning a giant effigy in a ritual frenzy. You have the anti-Wall Street vibe, the "gift economy" focus. Take this versus the millionaire CEOs who get involved and it is quite the walking contradiction. The anti-corporate Burning Man is itself basically funded by corporations.I only knew of this festival indirectly, but now I see what goes on in the board room and in the field. Wow, what a spectacle!

Burning Man means myriad things to multitudes of people. I would say that the ones who have the most difficulty defining the experience to a "virgin", are probably the most accurate. In my encounters, people who are the most opinionated, are the ones who have never participated. There are wonderful aerial shots and time lapse sequences accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack. And even though the film is long, I would have liked some coverage of the theme camps.The filmmakers have achieved what others have long been striving to convey- a comprehensive overview of the essence of Burning Man. A veteran and a "newbie" team up to give us unprecedented access to the movers and shakers of the organization...filling in the rich history of an event that will surely change your life forever.