Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, Naqoyqatsi and Chronos
First-time filmmaker Godfrey Reggio’s experimental documentary from 1983–shot mostly in the desert Southwest and New York City on a tiny budget with no script, then attracting the support of Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas and enlisting the indispensable musical contribution of Philip Glass–delighted college students on the midnight circuit and fans of minimalism for many years.
Meanwhile, its techniques, merging cinematographer Ron Fricke’s time-lapse shots (alternately peripatetic and hyperspeed) with Glass’s reiterative music (from the meditative to the orgiastic)–as well as its ecology-minded imagery–crept into the consciousness of popular culture. The influence of Koyaanisqatsi, or “life out of balance,” has by now become unmistakable in television advertisements, music videos, and, of course, similar movies such as Fricke’s own Chronos and Craig McCourry’s Apogee. Reggio shot a sequel, Powaqqatsi (1988), and completed the trilogy with Naqoyqatsi (2002). Koyaanisqatsi provides the uninitiated the chance to see where it all started–along with an intense audiovisual rush.
Koyaanisqatsi
Powaqqatsi (playlist)
Naqoyqatsi
Taking the familiar conventions of time-lapse cinematography to a transcendent level of artistic achievement, filmmaker Ron Fricke circled the globe to make Chronos, a stunning 70-millimeter time-lapse tour of natural and man-made wonders. The entire film has the enhanced, hyper-realistic quality of a laser-etched photograph, and by using special cameras and motion-control photographic techniques, Fricke and his technically expert crew were able to create mesmerizing images guaranteed to spark any viewer’s sense of awe and wonder.
Chronos
This is not a documentary this is rubbish.
Couldn’t watch more than 3 minutes… it was so boring. Fast forward didn’t help either.
i’ve never seen a documentary presetend in such a artistic way – it’s more profund,the music was great… you don’t really need words and scientific explanation(maybe sometimes-but they directed very good) thank’s again ;)
I’m pretty open minded about film concepts, but this is a terrible film. The imagery is beautiful, but gets old really fast. It does have a way of getting its point across, but I prefer listening to others talk and give their opinions and debate like in most documentaries. This film isolates you and puts you in your own little world, which I think is not what is needed to address the world’s issues: everyone in their own little world. Just my thoughts.
If everyone could take one thing away from my little comment here, PLEASE do not assume so quickly that this doc is garbage.
A. It’s streamed, so the quality is gonna suck.
B. It’s the third in a trilogy and the other two aren’t on here.
C. If you were looking for some kind of story-line or plot, you will be disappointed, as these films serve only as a reflection of the human race, letting the viewer decide how they feel about themselves and human life. There is a lot going on and it requires MANY viewings to understand what is being said about humanity, as it is purely through imagery, music score, and editting that the “message” is conveyed.
This is actually a very profound documentary, one which expands quite heavily on the previous two in the series. It’s sad that Koyaanisqatsi isn’t on here, as that one MUST be watched first. It is the most linear and understandable. Reggio, Coppola (that’s right THE Francis Ford Coppola), Fricke, and Glass have created an experience through these three films that I believe is the single most important of my life.
I really wish that the other two were on here and hopefully Vlatko can find them somewhere, but words can’t describe my love and facination with this trilogy. Koyaanisqatsi in particular has changed my life forever.
PLEASE do yourself a favor and watch Koyaanisqatsi. Then you can come back to this doc and make judgements.
Baraka is a doc on this site (along with a similar, but not nearly as powerful doc called Chronos) that is a good one to watch if this one didn’t make sense or didn’t do it for you.
OK Dr. Dunkleosteus, all those docs are up. Cheers.
I fully agree with Dunkleosteus. Koyaanisqatsi has changed my life and just about everyone elses I’ve shown the film to. Yes, it is done in a COMPLETELY different and almost unusual manner. There is no narriation, and the music is authentic and from all over the globe.
I highly, HIGHLY suggest if you have access to LSD to watching these films while dosing. Another profoundly amazing film of the same genre, (one which I personally think is even better), is a film titled Baraka. It is the most amazing experience I have ever had in my 30 years.
Yeap I totally agree @Capricious. Baraka is really astonishing peace of art. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/baraka/
Haha, well while I don’t support or denounce drug use of any kind, watching these films under the influence of psychedelics can be a very powerful and life-affirming experience. In fact, my first viewing of koyaanisqatsi and my first experience with a psychedelic substance somehow came together in one night of jaw-dropping revelation.
I love Baraka too! I feel like it shows less of the day-to-day craziness in the western world that koyaanisqatsi shows and more of a global craziness in terms of religious practices and cultural traditions.
Thank you vlatko so much for putting these up! Proof that this site is the growing mecca for all things intellectual.
I haven’t watched powaqqatsi in so long, I think I’ll spend tomorrow evening watching it again.
damn amzing images
reminds me of the documentary earth
i always love those sky images
i find it amazing that this dude has done this so long ago
the first video
if you look at the cars and people … must be filmed in 1970′s or 80′s
I really enjoyed Koyaanisqatsi. It has very nice filming and is a fantastic video for self reflection. The title means “a state of life that calls for another way of living” in the Hopi language, according to Wikipedia.
I love the scene at around 1:17:00. Combined with the audio, it felt very powerful.
GOD said > ULTIMATE I have is LIFE, ULTIMATE I want is IMMORTALITY, BORING… there came BIG BANG !
hmmmmm
there are words for this ….. profound
and another one i just made up ….. perspectifying
and to be fair to the first few posts here, i think you do have to see them pretty much in order.
i enjoyed immensely ….
cheers
haha! not gonna watch this one based on the reviews
…..I really hope that this film unviels the seemingly hidden spirit of so many in the quest as I for…. who are we, why are we here, where are we going & how do we get there? Or are we actually at our destination in this moment?
…..I’m 56 now and did’nt log on to one of these rigs till about 3 yr’s ago. at which time without the help of sites like T.D.F. and Vlatko, I would still be watching mainstream news and all the other mind altering (to the point of brain dead) programming that is offered…
…..This film just reinforces that we really do create our shared reality through this collective conciousness… It seems apparent that our thought patterns have shaped that which, the very same conciousness must reassemble to alter the present path percieved of animate or inanimate life on mother earth.
…..I agree with many that we are in the 11:11 time on the 12 Hr clock as we pass through the illusion of time..
…..I also found it interesting that one of the Hopi translations at the end of Koyannisquatsi stated that “Near the day of purification there will be cob webs spun back and forth in the sky” check out “CHEMTRAILS” and see if they don’t resemble cobwebs? And why would they put on a display over Vancouver Isle on occasion?
…..Vlatco I think that TDF should still have a category titled Spirituallity/New Age….alongside Organized Religon. Seems these days alot of folks would focus on a possible unorganized, but viable alternative for some. Rather than more explanations & history from the church and the ultimate religion deemed the economy.
…..Videos like this have been given freely…..I think’s I’ll pass this and others on till I get complaints (none yet)
Namaste…joachim