Koyaanisqatsi
1982 Directed by Godfrey Reggio
Synopsis
A movie with no conventional plot: merely a collection of expertly photographed scenes. Subject matter has a highly environmental theme.
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Criterion Collection Spine #640
The Qatsi Trilogy
"Top 100 of all time selection"
"Top 50 Film of the 80's Selection"
"Top 10 Film 1982 Selection"
Through the Eye of Criterion"ko.yaa.nis.qatsi, n. (Hopi). 1. crazy life. 2. life in turmoil. 3. life disintegrating. 4. life out of balance. 5. a state of life that calls for another way of living."
'Koyaanisqatsi' is an experience, from the first frame you are puzzle to what you are about to witness. nature, landscapes, people, water, technology, destruction, built, advanced, night, day, the film is a fest for the eyes.
Godfrey Reggio and cinematographer Ron Fricke delivered beautiful things to look at, but the whole experience is complete by Philip Glass atmospheric and very…
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United States - a 20th Century Portrait
What's most interesting about 'Koyaanisqatsi' is that I appreciated it wholeheartedly whilst completely missing the intended 'message'. The closing frames of the film talk of man's destruction of the Earth but I didn't really perceive this at all. I saw instead a wholly unbiased depiction of the world as it then was and, for the most part, still is.
From the calm beauty of the deserts to the frantic, relentless motion of the modern city, 'Koyaanisqatsi' is an all-encompassing look at a modern country, much in the same way that 'Man with a Movie Camera' was over 50 years before. For me, this film is a celebration of the beauty of all aspects…
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Film 25/100 of the June Challenge
Hypnotic, mesmerizing, and bold. Just three words to describe this powerful masterpiece. Each long lasting image blows your mind for the moment and then the film cuts to the next transcendent shot making you completely forget about the previous. You wonder how they filmed it and then you just let it soak in and allow the grace to immerse you. It is what people call a "trance" to view Koyaanisqatsi. Or can we say experience? You don't just see this film and forget it. Its power lingers long after the final image escapes your mind. Is there a clear message to those final words? Probably not because this film will mean something different to…
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This is a film I'm surprised doesn't get more letterboxd love. It tells the entire story of modern civilization over the years. The shifting and changing of landscapes is just beautiful. The editing is interesting (though not as revolutionary as it once was) and it keeps you engaged. The score by Phillip Glass is perfectly tuned to the film.
The fact that it manages to do all this without any actors or dialogue is breathtaking. It tells a complete story without any of the features we've come to expect a film to provide us.
It's a film that does something different and gets phenomenal results. I try to watch it every few years.
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So, Koyanisqaatsi. Boring junk to some, an involving masterpiece to others, and God knows what other adjective-noun combinations are out there. Most of these descriptions are fairly subjective, but it would definitely be wrong to regard Koyanisqaatsi as anti-cinema. It is anything but. Cinema, in its purest form, is a marriage of sound and visuals; everything else is just decoration. Dialogue? Storyline? Koyanisqaatsi harks back to an age when cinema was simply a filmed record of a situation. Was it not the Lumiere brothers who are generally regarded as the first pioneers of cinema? And is it not the case that their films comprised of nothing more than situations like a couple feeding their baby, workers leaving a factory, or…
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This is a very beautiful film. One of the most beautiful I've seen, actually. The mixture of complementary music and images is some of the best I've ever seen. The match cuts that connect poor and rich, natural and industrial, and beauty and horror are incredibly well-executed, and even attach similarity to disperate images effortlessly. Philip Glass' musical score is also one of the best ever put into a film, and it is the concrete that holds this film together.
The sequence where the camera flies over the projects, which are then demolished is the highlight of the film for me. This scene blends the elegant score against very clean and coordinated images of destruction, and the editing and music and shot composition all come together and saturate the scene with dense emotion. This is a very well-constructed film.
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I'll save you the trouble of having to watch this. All you need to know is "Nature good. Man bad." Oh, and that hearing the movie title chanted at you over and over and over as part of the score gets really old, really fast.
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United States - a 20th Century Portrait
What's most interesting about 'Koyaanisqatsi' is that I appreciated it wholeheartedly whilst completely missing the intended 'message'. The closing frames of the film talk of man's destruction of the Earth but I didn't really perceive this at all. I saw instead a wholly unbiased depiction of the world as it then was and, for the most part, still is.
From the calm beauty of the deserts to the frantic, relentless motion of the modern city, 'Koyaanisqatsi' is an all-encompassing look at a modern country, much in the same way that 'Man with a Movie Camera' was over 50 years before. For me, this film is a celebration of the beauty of all aspects…
-
Film 25/100 of the June Challenge
Hypnotic, mesmerizing, and bold. Just three words to describe this powerful masterpiece. Each long lasting image blows your mind for the moment and then the film cuts to the next transcendent shot making you completely forget about the previous. You wonder how they filmed it and then you just let it soak in and allow the grace to immerse you. It is what people call a "trance" to view Koyaanisqatsi. Or can we say experience? You don't just see this film and forget it. Its power lingers long after the final image escapes your mind. Is there a clear message to those final words? Probably not because this film will mean something different to…
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A truly gorgeous screensaver.
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One of the most beautiful films ever.
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I wish I'd seen this before I'd seen Baraka. But Baraka is a miracle unto itself and unfortunately I couldn't stop myself comparing Koyaanisqatsi to Baraka. The cinematography lacked the saturated colors of life Baraka bathed in, the editing lacked the thematic and rhythmic grace of Baraka. Only the score kept me thoroughly engaged.
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Magnificent
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Koyaanisqatsi is truly one mesmerizing film. Filmed at the beginning of the 1980‘s, its documentary footage of various sectors of the world at the time really succeeds at painting a picture of modernity, captured within the realms of the ever-present natural world. Essentially, this is the art of cinema in its purest form. Devoid of any true characters or conventional narrative, it is a poetic marriage of image and sound that speaks volumes with its aura of sheer simplicity that is easy to underestimate.
Nonetheless, despite such minimalism, the film still manages to work in a traditional three-act structure. Looming shots of mountains, clouds, and bodies of water compose the initial act, working as a complex love letter to the…
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A triumph of the moving picture, Koyaanisqatsi is surely something extraordinary. Not only can you adjust playing speed and create insane imagery but you can also trip on it for hours. The way Reggio explores natural forces, modern life and the slow death of Earth is remarkable. Philip Glass' music is a haunting shroud over the masterful camera work that incessantly unfolds onscreen. Some of the most absorbing stuff I have come across yet.