Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Koyaanisqatsi is the Hopi Indian term for "life out of balance,” and while there is a lot to be said about the film, I think director Godfrey Reggio sums it up best in the interview that’s part of the DVD’s bonus features.

The film, he admits, means different things to different people. To one person it is a film about saving the planet, and to another it is an homage to industrial progress. Some are deeply moved by seeing Koyaanisqatsi, he says, and some think it’s “a piece of (crap).”

While you reaction may fall into any of the above categories – and probably into a few Reggio didn’t mention – one thing is guaranteed, you won’t forget the experience of watching Koyaanisqatsi. And trust me; Koyaanisqatsi is a film you experience, not just watch.

Koyaanisqatsi doesn’t have any sort of narrative, at least in any traditional sense of the word. It’s actually made up of a series of images – from clouds moving across the desert sky to people rushing through their daily commute – all played using a wide range of photographic techniques to highlight the poetry of the motion that many of us either miss because we’re too literal about what we see or that we ignore because we’ve become just so inured to the world we live in.

It’s fascinating to watch, and when you crank up the Philip Glass score to 11 it becomes downright hypnotic.

Directed by Godfrey Reggio. Music by Philip Glass.
IMDB Site.