Come to Your Senses
Cast & Crew
Bernard Gunther
Bernard Gunther
Paul Beaver
David Crommie
Walt Defaria
Sheldon Fay Jr.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Esalen Institute director Mr. Bernard Gunther runs an encounter group for nine people studying at the Northern California center in Big Sur. The first part of the film is an exercise in broadening sensory experience and shows participants touching and watching each other. In the second segment, participants, including the film's audience, are asked to close their eyes and become more aware of their breathing, thoughts and each part of their body, from their feet to their head. The screen is blank for most of this segment, but when the participants are asked to open their eyes, a close-up of an orange being peeled fills the screen. Other meditative shots include a shelled almond, people playing in water and a flickering candle.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
No national release date has been established for this film, and the above credits and plot summary were taken from the October 20, 1971 Variety review based on a San Francisco screening and a New York Times review following a Whitney Museum of American Art screening in New York in December 1972. Come to Your Senses played in Los Angeles, CA for one day on 2 May 1976.
The Variety review states that Come to Your Senses featured long periods of blank film with only voice-over narration guiding the meditative process. Slow motion was also used to heightened sensitivity. The Esalen Institute, which is located in Big Sur, CA, is a non-profit organization established in 1962 as a communal retreat and educational center focusing on meditation, spirituality, art and other mind and body alternative workshops.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1971
Released in United States 1971
