Wheel of Time

Werner Herzog's 2003 documentary records the Kalachakra initiation, one of the largest ceremonies in Buddhism. The camera moves through the grounds at Bodh Gaya in India where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gather; monks spend weeks building an enormous mandala from coloured sand, and at the end of the ceremony the design is deliberately destroyed. Herzog puts that moment of destruction at the centre. The second part follows the pilgrimage route around Mount Kailash, where some pilgrims cover the whole distance by prostration, laying their bodies on the ground and rising again. Herzog intervenes as narrator and at times looks less at the belief than at the limits of physical endurance. There is also a short conversation with the Dalai Lama. The film observes rather than explains. Who it's for: viewers curious about Herzog's documentaries and religious ritual. Who it's not for: anyone looking for an orderly account of Buddhism; the film does not teach.