Ashtanga, NY – A Yoga Documentary – Recommended

Featuring: Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Sharath Rangaswamy, Willem Dafoe and Gwyneth Paltrow

It seemed fitting on the coming of the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks that I cover a New York documentary made during that time. According to the producers, this documentary was meant as a “concert film” celebrating the Ashtanga style of yoga and it’s living guru at the time, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Affectionately known as “Guruji” which means teacher, he was on his last North American tour. During the making of the film, Guruji was holding master classes at Chelsea Piers with Ashtanga yogis from around the country. His family also accompanied him, his children, his wife, (whose birthday is on Sept. 11th) and his grandson, a beautiful young man named Sharath Rangaswamy.

This documentary is a loving tribute to all who love and practice Ashtanga yoga with devotion, especially the New Yorkers and their small studio on Broome Street. The devotees who are interviewed for the film exude a brightness and equanimity that comes through in their enthusiasm to try to explain their practice. Along with the regulars, there is also a few famous folk, among them, Willem Defoe and Gwyneth Paltrow who blend in with the regular devotees during the master class footage.

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois was 86 when he gave these last master classes and he appears to be in perpetual serenity or bemusement. He devoted his life to teaching this style of yoga and it shows in his dedication to helping out students with challenging poses. He is seen very focused on the students, participating in a ceremony, or receiving students touching his feet!

The film takes a turn in tone when on the day of Sept. 11th, the students and one of the main teachers from the NY yoga studio are seen giving a cupcake to Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ wife. Then, immediately afterward, the awful footage of Sept. 11th burning Twin Towers, and the immediate response from the NY Ashtanga yoga community. The studio continues to hold the classes in the days following the attacks, to everyone’s relief and a special ceremony commemorates the people who died in the tragedy. One of the teachers tells the viewers that the prayers that are read during the ceremony are from ancient texts thousands of years old; it wasn’t just invented for the occasion.

The viewer gets a small glimpse into the power and saving grace of a devoted yoga practice. One of the most moving parts of the film occurs when Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is seen wearing a fireman’s shirt during a Ashtanga led class. He is giving instructions just as he did before but in clear solidarity. He doesn’t say much in direct address to his students but his presence is reassuring.

49 Up – Thumbs Up!

This fascinating series of British documentaries chronicle fourteen children from the age of 7 up, starting in 1964. The film’s tag line is a famous quote from a Jesuit priest: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.”

The original idea behind the first documentary was to show how social class in Britain largely determines an individual’s future. However, as the series progresses, this idea evolves into something much larger than a political rumination on class differences.

The kids were chosen by then researcher, Michael Apted, to represent a diverse range of social-economic classes and then see how their future lives would play out. The result is a intriguing look at how candid and bright-eyed kids are at 7 and how their human lives evolve, change, go through adolescence, young adulthood, marriage, career, divorce, disappointments and so on.

The first film was directed by Paul Almond and sponsored by Granada Television for a program called “World in Action.” Michael Apted took over as director in the follow-up films. Although he directed many award-winning feature films and other documentaries, this project is clearly dearest to his heart.

Not all 14 subjects in the original film agreed to be part of the subsequent sequels. The filmmakers that come to interview them every seven years are remarked by some to be “intrusive” and perhaps a reminder of dreams that perished or marriages that ended in divorce. But the ones that do continue in the series are reintroduced by a short, black and white flashback to the first initial interview in 7 Up and then are shown in color in the present day, responding to questions about their career, marriage, children (if they have any) and other life experiences common to all the participants.

My favorite subjects are Lynn, the librarian, and Neil, the one who goes through homelessness and mental instability and then becomes a local district councilor in northwestern England by the time of this film. Some of their British accents are hard to understand and Rita secretly wishes for English subtitles (!) like some films provide for certain regional English movies.

If you like documentary films with a unique twist, this one certainly has it. It isn’t often you have a documentary film that devotes such a span of time to its subjects. Michael Apted remarked that the film began as a political documentary but turned into a personal one, reflecting human nature and the nature of existence itself.

The fourteen subjects are Bruce Balden, Jackie Bassett, Symon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield, John Brisby, Peter Davies, Susan Davis, Charles Furneaux, Nicholas Hitchon, Neil Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Paul Kligerman, Suzanne Lusk and Tony Walker. Here is a link to the PBS’s POV Web site which features more in-depth information on the film and filmmaker: