Nick Rosen, B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois

Kate Churchill is a filmmaker and a dedicated yoga practitioner who insists that yoga can transform anyone. She decides to prove it. Her plan: select a subject, immerse him in yoga and follow him unti...( read more  read more... )l he finds a yoga practice that transforms him. Her subject: Nick Rosen a skeptical, 29 year-old journalist living in New York City.

Intrigued by the opportunity to peek behind the curtain of a 5.7 billion dollar “spiritual” industry, Nick signs on to investigate yoga for 6 months. Before he can say OM, he finds himself twisted up like a pretzel, surrounded by celebrity yogis, true believers, kooks, entrepreneurs and a gentle teacher from Brazil who leads his class with his feet behind his head.

The more Nick investigates yoga the more contradictions he discovers, leading him to question whether yoga is anything more than a workout. As Nick searches for concrete facts and discards the lofty spiritual theories of his yoga teachers, he strays further from Kate’s original plan. The two find themselves lost in Northern India, embroiled in a struggle between Kate’s expectations and Nick’s overt rejection of “spirituality.”

They circle the globe talking to mystics, gurus, mad men and saints searching for the true meaning of yoga. Ultimately, both Nick and Kate end up in places they never could have imagined. They don’t find the answers to their questions, they find much more.

Flixster Users

50% liked it

5,478 ratings

Critics

56% liked it

34 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 22 min.

Directed by: Kate Churchill

Release Date: April 1, 2009

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: November 24, 2009

Get It:

Stats: 79 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Your Rating



clear rating

Flixster Reviews (79)


  • June 3, 2009
    I generally like fictional movies with really good production values. I'm finding that I appreciate some documentaries with very low budgets and elements that I recognize are not perfect. All of the audio and camera work and narrative not being perfect only adds to the candidne...( read more)ss of the project and increases the power of the message in certain ways. With the director picking Nick Rosen as the subject of her Yoga movie, I think she chose a very good face and mind for the film. Choosing a young skeptical reporter from New York was a perfect choice for having the movie speak to people like me. I do not practice yoga or know much about it. Through Nick and the director Kate the movie is informative, candid, enlightening, and at times amusing. There are many little jewels of wisdom to pick up from the various yoga instructors that Nick visits. And it is not a film that ends up suggesting that Yoga has some magical power and is the right thing for everyone to practice. The narrative climaxes with an inspiring question session between Nick and a Yogi with a yellowish orange turban. Does something like Yoga change you? Well it can. Even for someone like Nick it has an affect when he's surrounded by it for such a compact amount of time. He is changed for the better. But it is not by Yoga that everyone will find their true selves or happiness. This movie is for people who have Yoga experience and just as much for those who don't!
  • October 22, 2009
    It was really neat looking at yoga practices in India; clearly the North American practices are more familiar, but also did not affect Nick. Filmmaker Kate was kind of a bitch, and not talented enough to make up for it.
  • November 30, 2009
    Just click on this link. It will mean nothing to you but you can help me a lot. http://www.e-album.ro/membru.php?id=15106 . Thank you very much!
  • November 19, 2009
    I found this an extremely interesting documentary.
  • June 12, 2009
    Recommended by Hypathio7.
  • April 26, 2009
    I love yoga! And this movie actually wasn;t even that bad but it's a lot of movie, There were a few parts of the movie that were amazing but mostly it was a yawner.

Critic Reviews


August 27, 2009
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

What's Rosen's dating life got to do with yoga? Nothing really, beyond a director's last-ditch attempt to show dramatic tension in her film before it peters out into inconclusiveness. full review

June 11, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This is a peaceful kind of film, not terribly eventful, but I suppose we wouldn't want a yoga thriller. Relax. Let it happen. Or not. full review

View more Enlighten Up! reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "Enlighten Up!" !

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Official Trailer

More Like This


This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts


No facts approved yet. Be the first

Enlighten Up! : Watch Free on TV


Movie Quizzes


No quizzes for Enlighten Up!. Want to create one?

Recent News


No recent headlines. Got one?

Most Popular Skin


No skins yet. Interested in creating one?