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Reviews
The Nature of Existence (2009)
Insightful documentary
The Nature of Existence is great documentary film-making. It is exhaustive in its scope, presented in a very objective manner and leaves the viewer wanting more.
Mr. Nygard does not delve into each philosophy in great detail as he is constrained by the length of a feature film. He does, however, give enough depth that you can begin to understand the basis of the religions he covers. His interviews give a very personal and individual viewpoint that really set a sort of indelible imprint which you take away with you and are likely to think of days after.
At no time does he minimize or ridicule these belief systems, and with at least a couple that would be very easy to do. You get the sense he is on a journey and is genuinely interested in hearing what people have to say. Most importantly, the Nature of Existence brings to light certain commonalities of religions, showing that if people would actually take a little time to learn and understand what their fellow neighbors on this planet believe there might be more tolerance of each other.