Naqoyqatsi

marcus • January 28th, 2008

Naqoyqatsi: Life as war is a documentary film released in 2002; it is the third and final film of the Qatsi trilogy by Godfrey Reggio. The film focuses on society’s transition from a natural environment to a technology-based industrial environment.

In the opening chapter, the first scene is a zoom in of the Tower of Babel as portrayed in the Bible, then, shots of an abandoned building from both interior and exterior are shown, followed by a black and white series of shots. One shot is one of a strong wave, followed by a mountain with an effect behind the mountains of stars falling like comets, then a natural scene, then a black and white animation of a mountain’s framework growing is shown, after that, inverted, black and white, layered people are seen walking. Many lines come above the scene, and then the title is revealed in big, red writing.

Source: Wikipedia

Powaqqatsi

marcus • January 28th, 2008

Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation is the 1988 sequel to the experimental 1982 documentary film Koyaanisqatsi, by Godfrey Reggio. It is the second film in the Qatsi trilogy.

Powaqqatsi is a Hopi word meaning “parasitic way of life” or “life in transition”. While Koyaanisqatsi focused on modern life in industrial countries, Powaqqatsi, which similarly has no dialogue, focuses more on the conflict in third world countries between traditional ways of life and the new ways of life introduced with industrialization.

As with Koyaanisqatsi and the third and final part of the ‘Qatsi’ trilogy, Naqoyqatsi, the film is strongly related to its soundtrack, written by Philip Glass. Here, human voices (especially children’s and mainly from South America and Africa) appear more than in Koyaanisqatsi, in harmony with the film’s message and images.

Source: Wikipedia

Koyaanisqatsi

marcus • January 28th, 2008

Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by minimalist composer Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke
The film consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse photography of cities and natural landscapes across the United States. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and music. In the Hopi language, the word Koyaanisqatsi means 'life of moral corruption and turmoil, life out of balance', and the film implies that modern humanity is living in such a way.