Analysis Of Amongst White Clouds

Amongst White Clouds is a documentary directed by Edward Burger, who made a life-changing journey to China in search of Buddhist hermits that still lived among the mountains in modern-day China. Burger first heard of these Chinese hermits in a book he found in a monastery while researching Indian Buddhism—Bill Porter's Road to Heaven. It was only after several months since arriving in Beijing, China that Burger was pointed towards China's Zhongnan Mountain range, where he eventually travelled to study under the supervision of a monk for several years. The documentary consists of various interviews with several of the hermits (including, notably, a nun and a monk nearing the end of his journey) surrounded by footage of their daily lives.

Burger's approach to the creation of the documentary is one in tandem with modern anthropologic methodology; at the core of the documentary is Burger's fieldwork, which gives the documentary a greater sense of authenticity. Burger also tries his best not to intrude in his filming; this becomes very clear when he drops out of the film after the introd...