Product Description
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Filmed in stunning high definition and coming to DVD, HD DVD and
Blu-ray Disc, Ganges is a sumptuous series that tells the story
of the most extraordinary river in the world. The Ganges runs
through the heart of India. For millions of Hindus it is Indias
sacred river, but they share its banks and waters with a rich
variety of wildlife. In a kaleido of color and energy, this
amazing series reveals how the Ganges has shaped the wildlife,
culture and beliefs of India. The journey begins at the source of
the river, high in the cold peaks of the Himalayas. It heads down
past tigers, otters, peacocks and wild herds of elephants before
reaching Varanasi, one of the oldest and most sacred cities in
the world. Arriving at the delta, where the Ganges meets the sea,
modern cities such as Calcutta join with the ancient swamps of
the Sunderbans. This amazingly diverse wetland, rarely filmed
before, is home to giant lizards, man-eating crocodiles and
forests full of monkeys. Here the tiger is still king, and man is
on the menu.
.com
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Watching Ganges, one might be inclined to hit the pause button
every now and then so as to ponder and absorb the images that
have just passed by, so breathtakingly beautiful is nearly every
frame of this extraordinary film. This is the kind of production
that was born to be viewed in High Definition, and one that
deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the groundbreaking
Planet Earth. But while both series were made by the BBC, there
are notable differences between the two. For one thing, Ganges is
considerably shorter (its three parts total about two and a half
hours); for another, while its focus is largely on nature and
wildlife, it has a much more prominent human presence (no
surprise, considering that the river wends its way through India,
the worlds second most populous nation, and that nearly a tenth
of all people on Earth live within the Ganges basin).
Regarded as a goddess, described as the nexus of the natural and
spiritual worlds, and variously known as "The Daughter of the
ains," "The River of Life," and "Ganga Ma" (Mother Ganges),
the river begins in the Himalayas (the exact source is uncertain;
four sacred sites are visited by Hindu pilgrims). Fed by numerous
streams, snowmelt, glaciers, and rain, it makes its way westward
across the plains of the Indian subcontinent, passing through
Rishikesh, Varanasi (known as the holiest city on the river), the
teeming metropolis of Calcutta, and the forbidding delta forest
known as the Sunderbans before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
Along the way, we see an astonishing variety of animals: snow
leopards, hawk-like lammergeiers with their ten-foot wingspans,
langurs and macaques, mahseer (the worlds largest carp, weighing
up to 50 kilograms), peacocks, otters, cranes, tigers, rhinos,
and on and on. Meanwhile, the Hindu reverence for nature is
constantly apparent--especially in a village where deadly cobras
roam freely in the streets, virtually ignored by the residents
(who consider themselves virtually immune; bites are frequent,
but no one seems to die from them, a strange anomaly in country
where twenty thousand people are killed by snakes every year).
The cinematography is never less than gorgeous, whether its a
closeup of a rhododendron or a panoramic ain vista; frequent
use of time-lapse photography only adds to the grandeur (cf. an
incredible sequence depicting the arrival of the summer monsoon).
Expertly narrated by Sudha Bhuchar, Ganges combines bravura
technique and sheer artistry to create a genuinely inspiring
viewing experience. Extras include a "making of" mini-doc and
deleted scenes. --Sam Graham