KoyaanisqatsiDo modern advancements come at the expense of our spiritual harmony? Koyaanisqatsi could be described as a cinematic poem--a meditation about "living in balance" with nature; the film is devoid of any dialogue, and the only evidence of these themes comes at the very end of the film. (Translated from the Hopi language, "Koyaanisqatsi" generally describes a "life out of balance".) Free from any semblance of a plot, Koyaanisqatsi invites the audience to consider how the images and music (by Philip Glass) represent our lives and the world, and ask ourselves who we are and where we are going.
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Since Koyaanisqatsi is without a true plot or definite story, interpretations of this film are largely subjective, which is a benefit since audiences may consider these images and metaphors as something unique to themselves. The timing and pacing of this operatic film is crucial to set the mood for what sensations the audience is likely to experience. Koyaanisqatsi opens with music that is almost funereal in its somberness--voices chant "Koyaanisqatsi" over and over, as if in the midst of a religious trance. Cryptic cave drawings suggest foresight on the part of ancient peoples when they are juxtaposed with the colossal feats of modern engineering--from airplanes to skyscrapers. And yet these marvels of modern civilization become frenetic examples of a world that has become consumed by progress for its own sake. A scene where a space shuttle lifts off from the launchpad is played in slow motion, adding gravitas to an audacious scientific exploit, yet simultaneously recalling the myth of the Tower of Babel and mankind's hubris in reaching to heaven to claim it as their own. Other moments in Koyaanisqatsi move at such breakneck speed that it is almost maddening, jarring the audience with unrelenting speed. Slow pans across the deserts and mountains depict the Earth as untamed--virginal even; by contemporary standards, it seems a bit alien. Mankind's encroachment into this pristine environment is almost always depicted as destructive and even exploitative. The first image in Koyaanisqatsi of a man-made device is an industrial machine emblazoned with the number "6" on its front, implying diabolical associations with its "mark of the Beast". Subsequent images are of the powerful juggernaut of industry having its way with nature--a violent ravaging ranging from excavation to smelting, and even detonating nuclear bombs. What follows is the transformation of this wild and primal world into something unnaturally organized and regimented, neatly packaged and contained. Instead of the rocks and the trees, the modern landscape is dotted with Volkswagens and newspaper stands. A reflective building perceived from below rises so high that it is almost disappears into the vanishing point of the onlookers who regard it with majesty; industry becomes the "God" of this new world, evidenced by the reverent music played here. Yet despite these pioneers carving a path into a bold, new frontier, Koyaanisqatsi implies that mankind is incapable of controlling the mighty Promethean flames they wield without bringing devastation in the process. For every gorgeous, crystalline tower that sprouts forth from the Earth, there are as many structures in ruins--a tragic waste of effort and resources squandered...the works of the mighty that once stood as proud testaments to mankind's prowess reduced to little more than skeletal husks awaiting demolition.
After Koyaanisqatsi establishes the transformation of the old world into the new, it is followed with several shots of a diverse cross section of humanity, from the streets of New York City, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. The shots are held for uncomfortably long periods of time on individuals--some are in motion, and others remain very still. Who are these people? Where do they come from? What kinds of hopes and dreams to they have? The answers are as individual as each of us, and that Koyaanisqatsi invites these questions speaks to its desire to foster sympathy with our fellow inhabitants of planet Earth. Other shots have a sardonic undercurrent to them, like when throngs of commuters crowd to board an escalator, then cutting away to a factory where Oscar Meyer hot dogs are shrink-wrapped on a conveyor belt. People in Koyaanisqatsi are almost always on the move, pausing ever so slightly return the gaze of the camera watching them--as though it were intruding into their structured, routine lives. The cities in Koyaanisqatsi are like living entities on a mammoth scale. The contrails of cars--white lights coming closer, and red moving away--are like the arteries and veins of some industrial organism, and all of us are just cells coursing through the streams from station to station, organ to organ. The buildings that rise into the night sky are uniform like beehives. Koyaanisqatsi is edited to draw deliberate comparisons between these cities and circuit boards being assembled in factories, reducing each of us to a mere component of the great machine--serving Moloch as in Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The intense energy pulsing through these cities keeps them in a constant "redline" state; this and the ethereal music in Koyaanisqatsi likely influenced Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, which also depicts a city on the verge of exploding. All of this speaks directly to the message of Koyaanisqatsi, that despite humanity's advances, when life becomes a compulsion devoid of joy or spiritual significance, it is no better than slavery--or even worse, a self-inflicted form of living damnation that demands altering the course or risking self-destruction.
Recommended for: Fans of a meditative cinematic experience that requires an investment from the audience to consider what this presentation of "pure cinema" means to them and about the thoughts and feelings it provokes. Koyaanisqatsi is a film that is good to watch with others, as it is sure to spark conversation and debate afterward.
After Koyaanisqatsi establishes the transformation of the old world into the new, it is followed with several shots of a diverse cross section of humanity, from the streets of New York City, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. The shots are held for uncomfortably long periods of time on individuals--some are in motion, and others remain very still. Who are these people? Where do they come from? What kinds of hopes and dreams to they have? The answers are as individual as each of us, and that Koyaanisqatsi invites these questions speaks to its desire to foster sympathy with our fellow inhabitants of planet Earth. Other shots have a sardonic undercurrent to them, like when throngs of commuters crowd to board an escalator, then cutting away to a factory where Oscar Meyer hot dogs are shrink-wrapped on a conveyor belt. People in Koyaanisqatsi are almost always on the move, pausing ever so slightly return the gaze of the camera watching them--as though it were intruding into their structured, routine lives. The cities in Koyaanisqatsi are like living entities on a mammoth scale. The contrails of cars--white lights coming closer, and red moving away--are like the arteries and veins of some industrial organism, and all of us are just cells coursing through the streams from station to station, organ to organ. The buildings that rise into the night sky are uniform like beehives. Koyaanisqatsi is edited to draw deliberate comparisons between these cities and circuit boards being assembled in factories, reducing each of us to a mere component of the great machine--serving Moloch as in Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The intense energy pulsing through these cities keeps them in a constant "redline" state; this and the ethereal music in Koyaanisqatsi likely influenced Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, which also depicts a city on the verge of exploding. All of this speaks directly to the message of Koyaanisqatsi, that despite humanity's advances, when life becomes a compulsion devoid of joy or spiritual significance, it is no better than slavery--or even worse, a self-inflicted form of living damnation that demands altering the course or risking self-destruction.
Recommended for: Fans of a meditative cinematic experience that requires an investment from the audience to consider what this presentation of "pure cinema" means to them and about the thoughts and feelings it provokes. Koyaanisqatsi is a film that is good to watch with others, as it is sure to spark conversation and debate afterward.