Randomized gif version: https://www.monkeon.co.uk/gifaanisqatsi/
40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
11–20 of 122 posts
Re: 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
#12I remember coming out of the cinema completely mesmerized. A but like reading poetry when you cannot express why it touches you.
I watched quite a few experimental films and some can be long after only 5 minutes. Koyaanisqatsi on the other hand feels completely coherent and keeps its tension for 90 minutes even if I couldn’t re-tell the story.
Re: 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
#13A few years ago I saw go go penguin perform their imagining of the koyaanisqatsi soundtrack live. It was one of the best things I've ever seen. I was spellbound from start to finish.
I've seen the Philip Glass ensemble playing live to the movie!
Re: 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
#14If you like this then I can’t recommend Baraka highly enough, by the cinematographer of Koyaanisqatsi: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraka_(film) No narration at all, just amazing visuals and music/sounds. Review by Ebert: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-baraka-1992
This. Koyaanisqatsi might be more important in cinematic history, but Baraka is actually enjoyable to watch. IMHO the best use for Koyaanisqatsi is as an answer when playing charades.
I find Koyaanisqatsi very enjoyable to watch.
Re: 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
This. Koyaanisqatsi might be more important in cinematic history, but Baraka is actually enjoyable to watch. IMHO the best use for Koyaanisqatsi is as an answer when playing charades.
I find Koyaanisqatsi very enjoyable to watch.
Back in the 90s a bunch of us watched the whole movie by accident. Somehow it came up in conversation and the guy whose house we were in happened to have a copy on VHS and he put it in and we got so mesmerized that while we only intended to watch a few minutes of it, we watched the whole thing.
There are two “sequels” to Koyaanisqatsi: Powisqatsi and Naqoyqatsi, both also with Philip Glass soundtracks.
Re: 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
#16A few years ago I saw go go penguin perform their imagining of the koyaanisqatsi soundtrack live. It was one of the best things I've ever seen. I was spellbound from start to finish.
I've seen the Philip Glass ensemble playing live to the movie!
I’m thinking that the performance that I saw had the PGE plus the Hollywood Bowl symphony playing live to the movie, but I could be misremembering it and the symphony may have played other material with the PGE before or after the movie.
Re: 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
#17If you like this then I can’t recommend Baraka highly enough, by the cinematographer of Koyaanisqatsi: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraka_(film) No narration at all, just amazing visuals and music/sounds. Review by Ebert: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-baraka-1992
Ron Fricke is person who made Koyaanisqatsi the beautiful visual journey that it is. I would recommend watching any of his other works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Fricke
(FWIW, Powaqqatsi is also pretty good, but I would strongly suggest avoiding Naqoyqatsi which is just not very good).
Re: 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
#18If you haven't seen the movie yet: https://watchdocumentaries.com/koyaanisqatsi/
Jeez still gets my heart pumping - watched just 3 minutes (0:45:00 -> 0:48:00 where it does the 'cars flowing like blood through veins in a city) and the real human orchestra music just nails it.
The composition of the shots makes me ask, Why are we living this way? Good and bad outcomes, ofc, and the film makes me ask myself questions.
Re: 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
#19Does anyone have any information on the Hopi prophecies quoted in the article and in the film? Are they documented elsewhere? It seems a little suspicious to me that the Hopi text so closely matches 1970s American environmentalism/anxiety about nuclear weapons. I suspect there has been some creative translation.
I actually wrote to the linguist listed in the Koyaanisqatsi credits for the original text in Hopi and he said he couldn't find it....
Re: 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
#20Does anyone have any information on the Hopi prophecies quoted in the article and in the film? Are they documented elsewhere? It seems a little suspicious to me that the Hopi text so closely matches 1970s American environmentalism/anxiety about nuclear weapons. I suspect there has been some creative translation. I actually wrote to the linguist listed in the Koyaanisqatsi credits for the original text in Hopi and he…
Intriguing