Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance

Trailer
Documentary / Music
USA, 1982, 86 min (Alternative: 82 min)

Plots(1)

Told without dialogue, narration, cast or characters, Koyaanisqatsi is a dizzying, hypnotic example of cinema set to an extraordinary score by Philip Glass. It contrasts natural beauty with a population ever more dependent on modern technology. (Arrow Academy)

Reviews (2)

D.Moore 

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English Koyaanisqatsi could just as well mean "Man is an idiot" in the Hopi language, because that is exactly the message of this film. After a few minutes, the initial fascination with nature is replaced by a depressing amazement at what numbskulls homo sapiens are, that we can outdo even lemmings in our self-destructive tendencies... And so on. While more than half of the atmosphere is created by Glass's great music, the material recorded and collected by Godfrey Reggio is not far behind. The ending with the rocket definitely kept me in my chair and made me sit there motionless for a good ten minutes after the credits. ()

kaylin 

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English A wordless documentary, with only music, a camera, and everything interconnected. It’s a documentary about the world and a documentary that has something to say. Without words. It has depth, and that has to be appreciated. Man has changed the world in his own image, but the question is whether that image is better than what existed before man. Not everyone would agree on that. ()