"Koyaanisqatsi" (1982), Directed by Godfrey Reggio, Cinematography by Ron Fricke, Music by Philip Glass

[DIShGo]

I just watched Koyaanisqatsi for the second time. This must-see film is mesmerizing and thought-provoking. With no dialogue or characters, it tells a story through stunning cinematography perfectly paired with an evocative score.

Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi word meaning "unbalanced life." It can be argued that this film is about the effect of technology on the natural world. Time-lapse and slow-motion footage of landscapes and cities throughout the United States are shown, juxtaposed with moving, minimalist music by Philip Glass. Yes, there are contrasts between the natural world and urban life, but the film is so much more. The imagery of the cities, even the slums of St. Louis, are beautifully shot. Watching this film is a transformative experience. It draws you in, transfixes you, and Koyaanisqatsi becomes a personal experience for the viewer.

To appreciate this film you need to watch it, uninterrupted, preferably on a larger screen with a decent set of speakers. Don't go on Wikipedia and read a synopsis. There is no point. (After viewing the film, however, I found it interesting to read about how the images were shot.)

Watching Koyaanisqatsi brought me to a meditative state. I watched it, on the recommendation of a friend, when my life felt "out of balance." I became lost, captivated by the imagery and the music that accompanies it. It altered my mood dramatically, both times. I thought I might lose interest the second time I watched it, but the experience was richer and more moving than my first viewing.

[DonRocks]

I just watched Koyaanisqatsi for the second time. This must-see film is mesmerizing and thought-provoking. With no dialogue or characters, it tells a story through stunning cinematography perfectly paired with an evocative score.

The first time I watched Koyaanisqatsi was in 2003, during my first vacation since Karen passed away, in Boston. I was wandering around the town alone, and saw a poster for Koyaanisqatsi which was going to be performed on a large screen that evening, with no soundtrack, but with the Philip Glass Ensemble in the orchestra pit playing the music. I had never heard of the film before, and wasn't all that familiar with Philip Glass - I certainly had no idea he wrote and performed the score. Needless to say, it was one of those unforgettable evenings that stay with you the rest of your life - it was mesmerizing, powerful, and yes, biased, but so what - everything in life willing to take a stand is biased.

Seeing movies such as this with a live orchestra is a truly amazing experience, and everyone should go out of their way to experience it at least once in their lives - it changes everything.

The film itself is extremely powerful, especially the beginning, and even more so during the recapitulation at the end; the middle can be exhausting, and borderline psychedelic, with all the fast motion scenes and patterns, and one might even say it becomes redundant and too long in parts. But as a whole, it packs enough energy to never become boring, and is enough to send someone who has been smoking pot into a fit of paranoia and perhaps even nausea. If I knew how to handle that stuff, this would probably be the perfect movie for it. I know a couple people on this website it would be *perfect* for.

It's available for free on the internet, here, but I highly recommend watching it on the largest screen, and (more importantly) with the best sound system possible - watching it on a laptop with poor speakers will harm the film's effect, and do it a great injustice.

Great film, DIShGo - who's your mentor? I'm also curious about any secondary meanings you walked away with - I haven't gotten further than the "technology is ruining things" motif, but I've only seen the film start-to-finish one time. Now if we can only get porcupine to watch "Duel."

[DIShGo]

Seeing movies such as this with a live orchestra is a truly amazing experience, and everyone should go out of their way to experience it at least once in their lives - it changes everything.

I would love to see it with a live orchestra! That must have been amazing. The music is such an important part of the film.

Great film, DIShGo - who's your mentor? I'm also curious about any secondary meanings you walked away with - I haven't gotten further than the "technology is ruining things" motif, but I've only seen the film start-to-finish one time. Now if we can only get porcupine to watch "Duel."

I didn't come away with any secondary meaning. The film, for me, was like going to an art gallery and sitting, transfixed by the power and the beauty around me. An LA traffic jam, shot with slow-motion and time-lapse photography, set to music, becomes poetry. The clouds reflected in a skyscraper are breathtaking; the full moon rising behind a tall building is stunning. Some of my favorite images were of workers in a hot dog factory, cocktails waitresses standing in front of a casino, and random passersby staring into the camera. Even little things, like the words on the billboards behind the masses of people, spoke to me. An airplane, taxiing on a runway, set to music, is hypnotic.

Yes, I agree, it gets long in the middle, and I even found myself close to dozing a few times. Whenever that happened, there would be a sudden shift in tone that would again capture my full attention.

Instead of saying technology is ruining things, for me the film said, "this is the way things are." The world isn't what it once was, but it is still, and will always be, full of beauty. And this beauty can be found in the most unexpected places.