Koyaanisqatsi/ Powaqqatsi [DVD]

Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi Indian word, one of its meanings being "Life Out of Balance". This is a little misleading, since principally what Reggio is portraying in this film is the effect of machines and technology on people, and where we fit in to it. I say "what Reggio is portraying", but that is inaccurate. It is really what Reggio _and_ Phillip Glass, the soundtrack composer, are portraying. The soundtrack through this wordless movie is continuous and is as important as the images. If you have never heard Phillip Glass' music before, it is a sort of repetitive classical music called "process" music or "minimalist". It works through repetition, hypnotic effects and dynamic build-up. It can be very very effective.

In fact in this movie the music has an almost drug-like effect. During the slower scenes of the movie, there is slower repetitive music, and I felt myself relaxing into it. But during the very fast scenes in the movie, the music is ridiculously fast, and the effect is very invigorating. I almost felt like punching the air at times!

So what exactly are these scenes? Well they are slow panning, slow-motion, fast motion, and normal motion scenes of nature, technology, people, cities, etc. If you have seen the movie "Baraka" you may know what I'm talking about (Koyaanisqatsi created a genre, of which Baraka has become a part). Using scenes of the desert, of the moon rising, of buildings being demolished, of freeway footage sped-up, and of subway stations at a blur, Reggio documents mans' integration and dependency on technology, and how it affects us. And he does this in brilliant synergy with Phillip Glass' music.

This is no "difficult" or "experimental" movie in the sense you may be thinking. It is captivating and exciting. I had a group of friends round to watch the DVD, some of whom liked art-house movies, and some of whom didn't. They were all impressed by Koyaanisqatsi.

If you want a new, exciting and engrossing experience in movies, then check out this DVD. If you just want to see some great filming, and to hear some fabulous process/minimalist music, then check out this DVD. If you want to feel that you've experienced something extraordinary and deep, and seen the world in a new light, and been given a great buzz from doing all of that, then check out this DVD.

It was gut wrenchingly beautiful and saddening. For the first 20 minutes I thought it was going to be purely aesthetic...trying to decide whether what you can see is clouds or the sea is a little strange...but when, after 20 minutes of watching footage of some of the bleakest uninhabited landscapes on the planet, you get a closeup of the oil mining industry, it feels like a punch in the stomach.Speeded up shots of spaghetti junctions make the traffic look like red blood cells in the biology videos we used to watch in class. A closeup of an old womans hand with an IV drip and bloodstained tape holding it in place...she reaches out her hand to the nurse changing her IV and the nurse takes her hand for a second. Then you can see, but it's almost imperceptible, the nurses grip loosen as she's about to let go, and every part of you is begging her not to, but you never see. The shot changes before she lets go of the old womans hand. And you know she did, because you could see she was going to, but the tension that was in your body doesn't leave with that knowledge. Sunbathers on a beach overlooked by a factory. Tourists in the factory taking pictures.

It's impossible to describe how a film with no dialogue and essentially no plot, made of a series of pieces of footage put together with a soundtrack comprising mostly an organ and some bass singers can affect someone this much. So watch it.