One Giant Leap
World Music Documentary with heart and SOUL.
"One Giant Leap" is a world music documentary. Although, it is not an exceptional "documentary" (perhaps because it is revolutionary), the film’s focus is on something linguistically indescribable -- the musical connection.
The feature length documentary introduces music as an infinite and powerful glue which connects us. As musicians purge emotions from their core -- linking note to note, sound to sound -- people in this human culture are united. Heads bob, hands clap, shoulders rotate. Bodies and souls are beckoned to move, and they do so together, thriving on the musical pulse and blossoming –- they smile like a morning rose opening to the sunshine.
1GL is the creation of Jamie Catto (a musician, film director, editor and photographer) and Duncan Bridgeman (an artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist). For over six-months, the two traveled to over twenty-five countries amassing music, words and images from sources of inspiration -- inspiration for those involved in making the music and making the film an inspiration for the viewers.
The DVD’s film chapters correspond to each track on the album, and each track explores a different theme.
Movement is also omnipresent throughout the film. Packed full of powerful images of music in the making and then the corporeal reaction to the music, the film translates into movement -– movement of the body and movement of thoughts and ideas, for example, and tending towards openness, tolerance, acceptance and compassion.
At one point in the film, drums –- ancient and penetrating –- accompany African men and women as they dance in a circle. Their hands, heads and feet fly up, down and out, but land simultaneously with the drummer’s beat. Their bodies are one, spiritually if not physically, with the rhythm and with one another -- musicians and dancers alike. This type of imagery is present throughout the film and provides the audience with a visceral option – yes, it’s okay to dance in the movie theatre.
The directors’ approach to filmmaking, furthermore, is an example of the true spirit of artistic collaboration and the love of and for all that is creative. The directors traveled from India and New York City to London and Bangkok, recording and filming music makers making music and the human response to those compositions. With a digital camera, a laptop and a battery-operated mixing desk, the team sought human unity in cultural diversity.
The result is a compilation of spoken word, sounds, rhythms and images connecting the human spirit, the human culture, and nurture the human existence, like a mother’s voice does for a restless newborn.
The film includes commentary by Michael Stipe, Dennis Hopper, Kurt Vonnegut and Noam Chompsky, and the soundtrack includes creations from "unknowns" and "well-knowns" alike, including (among others) Robbie Williams, Bada & Bakane Seck, Asha Bhosle, Neneh Cherry, the Mahotella Queens, Levon Minassien, the Mustapha Tettey Addy Drummers and DJ Swamp.
One Giant Leap combines elements of film and the unifying nature of music with a nomadic essence and an appreciation for everything in the universe.
A great and profound film. See the film. Hear the music. Feel the message...and dance!
Written by: Rachael K. LeValley
Reviewers Rating: 9
Reader's Rating: 9.27
Reader's Votes: 25
Added: 6-Aug-2002
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