ReelBob: ‘Spark: A Burning Man Story’ ★★★
By Bob Bloom
“Spark: A Burning Man Story” is a documentary that looks at this annual cultural event and the workings of those who run it to balance and personal and artistic freedom and expression with a structured format.
For more than 20 years, thousands of people have gathered at Black Rock Desert in Nevada to build a temporary city where artists and others gather for a week of self-expression and partying. It all culminates in the burning of a giant effigy.
The guiding principles of Burning Man are rooted in self-reliance, inclusion and community.
This 2013 movie takes those of us who cannot attend into the strange and wonderful world of the six co-founders who plan the event.
And, ironically, that is one of the movie’s drawbacks. Too much time seems to be spent following the various planning challenges than taking us inside the event itself. It would have been satisfying spending more time with the attendees who shed their usual 9-to-5 existence to transform themselves into whatever they want to be for a few days, rather than eavesdropping on those who run the event debate where to draw the line between chaos and the necessary bureaucracy.
“Spark,” while looking back at how the event originated, spends the bulk of the movie on the 2012 festival. It examines some of the artists who are preparing massive projects to bring to Burning Man and the intensive labor that goes into putting on the celebration.
The best parts of the movie are at the festival itself. There, the camera strolls through the massive event capturing attendees — some rather eccentric — gaily adorned, totally uninhibited in a welcoming and nonjudgmental communal atmosphere.
That is countered with the rather mundane, but interesting, debates and divergent views among the founders about the essential meaning of Burning Man.
The festival did face a crisis when it grew to such proportions that a ticket lottery had to be instituted. This caused much blowback from many of the event’s free-wheeling attendees. Yet, Burning Man survived and continues to thrive.
At the outset, Burning Man was presented as a gifting event-economy where attendees brought their own food, water and other supplies, which they freely shared with others. Burning Man was envisioned as a gathering with, as one of the cofounders described, “all participants, no spectators.”
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the next Burning Man festival is up in the air. So “Spark” makes for a way to see what you have missed, if you never attended, and as a nostalgic visit to the past for those awaiting their next trip to Black Rock Desert.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
SPARK: A BURNING MAN STORY
3 stars out of 4
Not rated, language, brief nudity