Customer Reviews:
This film has been lovingly pieced together from hundreds of documents, photos, personal recollections and vintage film and video by Giler and Gould, acting not as ethnologists studying a social/cultural phenomenon from the outside, but as participants, patients and friends of the late urban shaman Karmu, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who was a traditional African-American healer and, eventually, came also to be seen as new age teacher. The film ably communicates not only the reactions of those who interacted with him, but through the included footage, gives the viewer a direct experience of his humor, warmth and depth.
The film is structured more like human memory than the usual rigidly sequential documentary would be, in that the time line goes back and forth, the history is filled in in snippets, a comment is sometimes illustrated with a still photo or early video clip.
Anyone who ever knew or heard of Karmu will already want this film, and will certainly watch it multiple times; but those with an interest in or connection to the roots of the alternative health movement, the wisdom of folk and indiginous philosophies, as well as the intersection between traditional cultures and the 60’s counterculture should also see it. It is also important to note that it is very entertaining and joyous!
Bebo
Karmu was a folk healer who lived in Cambridge, MA for many years and touched the lives of many people, from drug addicts and street people to Harvard professors and doctors like Andrew Weill. This is the first time that a documentary has been made about his life and work. Even those who had no personal contact with Karmu will be fascinated by this maverick shaman who seemed to be able to look inside people and see where their imbalances were, be they physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. The way he would heal people was as offbeat as everything else about him, but he got such good results that the chairman of the psychology department at Harvard did a scientific study on him.
As far as the documentary itself, it is pretty well put together with some extremely interesting footage. It is more or less at the level of what might expect from a PBS “American Masters” documentary, perhaps a little rougher, but still, very high quality. Anyone studying the healing arts, especially those studying energy healing, reiki, therapeutic touch, etc. will want to watch this documentary, along with therapists and counselors. In his own eclectic way, he really was a master healer and there is a lot that we can learn from him.
DianeK
I know a qigong master who was told by Karmu that he would do even more amazing healing than Karmu did! So I have heard Karmu stories from this qigong master, Jim Nance, and so getting to watch this documentary was a real special viewing. Along with the websites on Karmu it is evident that Karmu was the “real deal” as he literally left his body when he healed people – he took in their energy blockages and then to heal himself he left his body and went into the light. This documentary actually delves into that process a bit more, from the perspective of the students of Karmu and also the context of Karmu’s healings – how they were received and how they changed the community around him. The best part is the “found footage” of Karmu which is quite extensive in the documentary but really every part of this documentary is must-see viewing. It’s amazing that someone as profound as Karmu remains relatively unknown in the U.S. but the documentary even explains a bit why this is so. We can say the same for current healers of similar ability but as Karmu had to remind himself his power was not his own, rather it was from living a natural life “beyond reproach” so he could resonate with the energy of the universe. We can just bask in the glory of the life of a true hero and see how it was really an instance of deep truth that people managed to discover in a time of “cultural revolution” as the documentary describes.
drew hempel