Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Carefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high speed using time-lapse cinematography in an effort to demonstrate the history of various regions.
Chronos is a landmark non-narrative documentary by Ron Fricke that essentially has no plot or acting in any traditional sense — it is pure visual poetry. Its cinematography is stunning and genuinely exceptional, featuring sweeping time-lapse sequences of natural and human landscapes that remain breathtaking decades later. Its novelty is high: Fricke's singular vision and mastery of large-format time-lapse filmmaking give the film a truly one-of-a-kind quality that prefigures his later Baraka and Samsara. The ending is reflective and satisfying within the film's meditative framework, though not especially distinctive from its overall flow. Acting is inapplicable and rated at the floor accordingly.