Koyaanisqatsi is one of those movies — one of the few — that Changed Everything for me in terms of how I look at movies, and what they could do, and how they could communicate. Most people have caught at least snippets of it (PBS still shows it frequently) and they either love it or hate it. One thing that neither camp can deny, however, is the impact the film has had. Lacking characters, a story or spoken dialogue of any kind, the film is a visual feast that, with the aid of unconventional camera angles, super-fast and super-slow motion, tries to visualize nature, and man’s place within it, in a new way. Labeled “pure cinema,” its release in 1982 hearkened back to actorless silent film-era masterpieces like Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera and Berlin: Symphony of a City, but created something entirely new, as well.
It also started a cottage industry of eye-popping films like Baraka, Chronos and two sequels, Powaqquatsi and Naqoyqatsi, but none of them, I think, match the grace or deep meaning of the original. I had to watch it two or three times before I really started to understand that there was a carefully-constructed (if subtle) visual argument at work in Koyaanisqatsi, one which echoes the translation of the Hopi word that is the film’s title: “life out of balance.” The soundtrack, too, made a deep impact — it thrust composer Philip Glass onto the national scene in a new way, and jump-started his career doing music for movies (which he had previously said he wanted nothing to do with).
I want to look at the ways Koyaanisqatsi’s style is echoed all over the place these days, but first we have to take a look at the movie itself. If you can rent it — or better yet, see it in a theater — by all means do, but you could do worse than watching it on Hulu with the lights down and the sound cranked. In case you don’t have 90 minutes to do that right now, here’s a clip:
As the ultimate bit of contrast — and to see how far Koyaanisqatsi’s tentacles reach, check out this trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV. Recognize anything?
If that doesn’t look familiar, perhaps the video for Madonna’s “Ray of Light” will ring a bell.
Still not convinced? Try the opening to 1992′s creepy horror film Candyman.
There are plenty of other references out there — including four or five in The Simpsons but you get the idea. Now quit reading this blog and watch the movie already!
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It’s a hard movie for me to watch – not for the movie itself, which is FASCINATING to see, but for the soundtrack. Some people can listen to Phillip Glass without it driving them crazy, some can’t. Count me in the second camp.
posted by Deb on 10-16-2008 at 11:01 am
For a little more modern take on this film style, check out Baraka. Much better soundtrack too.
posted by nightstraveler on 10-16-2008 at 11:15 am
I had the exact same reaction you did, Ransom. When I first saw it, the skies parted and the world tilted. I played around with my VHS copy, and edited some sequences to other, more rockin’ music. My favorite sequence is the demolition of the projects…the music there is perfect.
I always felt like Koyaanisqatsi would make a great video postcard to show alien cultures what human life on Earth is all about.
posted by Johnny Cat on 10-16-2008 at 11:35 am
I saw it when it premiered in San Francisco at the Castro Theater. The director was there, cinematographer and Philip Glass, too. It was mind blowing. Nothing compares to seeing it in a huge theater with an awesome sound system.
posted by JazMac on 10-16-2008 at 12:40 pm
Coincidence! Ebert just reviewed Baraka yesterday in his Great Movies feature.
And he made the same point about Baraka that Johnny Cat makes about Koyaanisqatsi: that it would be an excellent way to communicate what life is like on Earth.
hxxp://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081015/REVIEWS08/810150290/1004
posted by dave on 10-16-2008 at 1:08 pm
I consider my pretty lucky that I got to see this on the big screen back when it came out…
But, I was the only one in the theater.
posted by stuart on 10-16-2008 at 1:18 pm
Did anyone else notice that the music for Candyman was done by Philip Glass?
posted by Cody on 10-16-2008 at 3:36 pm
dude i totally i thought i was the only one on the planet who thought this was a cool flick!
posted by drumnbasskitty on 10-16-2008 at 3:56 pm
I’m possibly the world’s biggest Koyaanisqatsi fan. Ransom will recall when I donated $250 to the producer to get a “gift” of the film on DVD, back when it was only out on VHS and Laserdisc (both of which I owned). Awesome.
Anyway, my favorite piece of Koyaanisqatsi trivia is this: time-lapse sequences from the LA and New York filming of Koyaanisqatsi are included in the movie LA Story (which is another favorite). Imagine my surprise when I watched the two films back-to-back one night and realized something was…similar….
posted by Chris Higgins on 10-16-2008 at 6:28 pm
By the way, credit where credit is due: it was Higgins who first introduced me to the film.
posted by Ransom Riggs on 10-16-2008 at 6:45 pm