After giving The Matrix the pasting it deserved for being nothing but eye candy I'm going to come over all unnecessary about a film that has no discernible plot whatsoever. Koyaanisqatsi dispenses with dialogue, replacing it with a mesmeric score by composer Philip Glass. So what happens? If I were to try to shoehorn the assemblage of images into some coherent narrative one of you unkind people would lift the text straight off the screen and into Private eye's Pseuds Corner, so instead I'll try to give an impression of what it feels like to watch the film.
Imagine that.... Imagine that you are in fact an intelligent recording device sent from some distant planet to get a handle on what exactly those bipeds on planet earth do. Not caring (or even able to appreciate) the human interest angle your eye is arrested by incongruous patterns, strange arrangements, the variations caused by the passage of time - in short, occurences that a human eye is unable or unwilling to observe. (Of course for this scenario to be believable, you also have to imagine that the filmmaker Godfrey Reggio captured you before departure, thought 'what the heck, lets see if anyone buys this stuff' and put it on release).
That is far as I'm prepared to go in describing this film. If it makes you go see it I'm happy to throw in a few words of praise - it is astounding, it is extraordinary, it is revealing - but the highest form of praise is plagiarism and this film has been 'referred to' by so many adverts precisely because of the strength of the images. Here, your sense of wonder is sustained, given space, whereas your friendly ad exec fills that moment of astonishment with the compunction to buy the product.
The drugs thing? It was originally released in 1983 and given a re-release in the late 90s, possibly as a kind of nod to its affinity with chemically-induced trance states. Do yourself a favour and see it with a clear head.
Maybe it does lack Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts going through the motions while Celine Dion gives it her all but I think it pulls it off.
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Godfrey Reggio'sKoyaanisqatsi("life out of balance") andPowaqqatsi("life in ... more
transformation") are the first two parts of a trilogy of experimental documentaries whose titles derive from Hopi compound nouns (2002'sNaqoyqatsi, or "life in war", is the thi...
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Godfrey Reggio'sKoyaanisqatsi("life out of balance") andPowaqqatsi("life in ... more
transformation") are the first two parts of a trilogy of experimental documentaries whose titles derive from Hopi compound nouns (2002'sNaqoyqatsi, or "life in war", is the thi...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Prepare for the ultimate DVD experience. Technically dazzling photographic effects ... more
superb cinematography and stirring musical scores combine to create two of the most extraordinary and breathtaking films in recent years. Influencing untold pop promo...
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KoyaanisqatsiPrepare to experience a truly remarkable film - a cinematic masterpiece so ... more
extraordinary that it regales the senses, stimulates the mind and actually redefines the potential of filmmaking. Celebrated director Godfrey Reggio, innovative cin...
![Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi [DVD] [1983]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78516763.jpg "Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi [DVD] [1983]")
Aug 26th, 2001
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