Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)

...be possible to go through Koyaanisqatsi scene by scene and yet it would also be impossible. There is a sense of mysticism to this film, most likely intentional as the title: Koyaanisqatsi comes from the Native American Hopi tribe, which is explained as the film finishes. For those of a curious disposition, Koyaanisqatsi means 1. Crazy life. 2. Life in turmoil. 3. Life disintegrating. 4. Life out of balance. 5. A state of life that calls for another ...
...no ordinary motion picture, and Koyaanisqatsi isn’t at all. It has a narrative, but in an entirely different sense to going down to your local multiplex and seeing a Hollywood blockbuster, which is not to suggest that there is anything wrong with doing so; Koyaanisqatsi is simply the kind of life that should be pretentious, self-indulgence-as-high-art rubbish. But it’s not. Why? Koyaanisqatsi is a film built out of images. Some still, some in motion, ...

No_name 30.01.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)

...No, probably not, but then Koyaanisqatsi is not most films. It's a classic, award-winning film of the 1980's, a frantic tirade against capitalism and exploitation of the worlds natural resources, and a plea for a return to the traditions of the native Americans who lived close to the land. Koyaanisqatsi is a film of images set to music. Minus plot, characters or narrative, you are left to take in the images yourself and take what interpretations ...
...These are the images which Koyaanisqatsi is most famous for – sped up traffic changing lanes on the freeways of Los Angeles, humans flowing over zebra crossings, across the concourse and up the escalators at Grand Central Station. Night falls, and we see the highway from inside a car, the lights of other cars zooming past become red and orange streaks; the moon rises behind a skyscraper, neon lights flicker on, dancers strike a pose in nightclubs ...

Nozilla 27.11.2002 (11.12.2002) · Read full review
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Review of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)

...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 ...
...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 ...

oedipus 26.08.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)

KOYAANISQATSI - the word that the Hopi Indians use to describe "Life out of Balance" - beautiful. I caught this film on Film 4 last night, after years of trying to watch it, but never getting round to it. I say film, but it is more of a wordless documentary - brilliantly fusing Godfrey Reggio's sumptious visuals with a never more perfect score from minimalist composer Philip Glass. Koyaanisqatsi begins with vistas of native American Indian nature, ...
...which we saw earlier. Koyaanisqatsi is an environmental film without a plot - moreseo it delivers a message that doesn't preach but certainly makes you think. This film will not be for everyone, as it has no plot, no characters, and no dialogue. Also, Philip Glass is not for everyone, and whilst for me the soundtrack worked perfectly, it's style is somewhat dated and could annoy. If you want to see stunning visuals with a purpose, that will make ...

MARKMAN 13.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)

"Koyaanisqatsi" is a bit of an oddity, a documentary without words which shows up the idiocies of modern American society and contrasts it with more primitive societies (the title is a Hopi Indian word meaning "Life in turmoil"). The photography is excellent, sometimes breathtaking; and the music by Philip Glass, at least as important as the visuals, is among his finest (although you'd have to like Glass's music in the first place to appreciate it). ...
...why I was attracted to the film in the first place, and if you come at it from that angle you won't be disappointed. However there is a problem with the visual side of the film, namely that the message is far too simplistic for this ambitious setting. If you really happen to believe that technology is dehumanising, you have no business making a large scale two hour film on the subject. Ultimately, the heart of the film is quite vacuous. Ignore ...

NeilHudson 03.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)

I've seen this film a couple of times when Channel 4 have put it on late at night (well I do admit it's not exactly peak viewing stuff) and each time i was mesmerised - almost literally - by its intensity of visual originality. Its rather like sitting inside an abstract expressionist's head and going along for the ride. One minute you have amazingly beautiful time-lapse photography of cloud formations the next slow motion images of various types, ...

JSpencer 06.09.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)

Koyaanisqatsi is a weird & wonderful film, one that is more of an experience than the often passive viewing of a standard film. It takes you on a journey through different lands & climates, varying the speeds of what you are watching from very slow to speeded up. It is all accompanied by a haunting musical score by Philip Glass. There are some beautiful images of mountains & sunsets & contrasted with these, we get to watch mundane scenes such as ...

KarenUK 08.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)

Koyaanisqatsi is a film with beautiful moving images set to music. There's no story in the conventional sense. The film is about man's relationship with the natural world, and how the natural world has now come to mean the urban jungle. At least that's my interpretation of it. The photography is excellent, making good use of time-lapse action. The music accompanies the images perfectly. At times it is haunting, seconds later it may be uplifting. ...

Tyrian 23.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)