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Naked In Ashes

By MATTIAS FREY | January 13, 2006

2.0 Stars

NAKED IN ASHES Close encounters, no critical distance.

Thirteen million yogis provide a dramatically alternative example in the face of an increasingly materialistic and technologized India. Committed to an ascetic lifestyle, the holy men spend much of their time naked and covered in ashes. American filmmaker Paula Fouce chronicles a group of these men in their meditation, rituals, and peregrinations, and her sincere documentary is remarkable for the rapport it builds with the reclusive spiritualists. But this close access comes at the price of sacrificing all critical distance. Fouce reproduces the yogis’ teachings without the indirect speech necessary for a rigorous documentary, and that makes Naked in Ashes feel less like a study than an idolization (or even an ethnographic promotion) of its subjects. It’s a pleasant affirmation for the converted, but viewers seeking higher truths about religious life in India will remain unenlightened.

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