Koyaanisqasti is a
powerful film. Consisting only of time
laps film segments and a score composed by Philip Glass, this documentary
conveys a strong message. Koyaanisqasti, meaning “crazy life” or “a state of life that call for another way of living”, is a
word we have not equivalent for in English.
Here is a Hopi elder speaking about the Hopi way in Hopi.
The
film begins with scenes of nature, showing clouds as forceful, massive figures
and quickly transitions to show the world under human destruction The entire film
seems to be organized chaos. Glass’ soundtrack is a bit frantic and
frightening; there is no mistaking the message of this film. Director Godfrey
Reggio is illustrating that we are destroying our world with our way of
life. Something is out of balance. While watching the flashing images of this
film I couldn’t help thinking of my childhood favorite film FernGully.
The concept of Koyaanisqati is a common theme in many films.
I love your comparison of Koyaanisqatsi's theme to that of Fern Gully's. It shows that this theme of human life and nature being out of balance can be found anywhere in our society if we simply look for it.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great comparison. It really goes to show that the idea of universal imbalance is understood by many despite commercial effort to dispute and cover up the damage we are causing our planet.
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely agree that Reggio is trying to show that our world is out of balance, even if he believes that the message is whatever you want it to be. The scene that stuck out the most to me to show that would be the truck getting covered by its own exhaust fumes.
ReplyDelete