When Godfrey Reggio's documentary Koyaanisqatsi opened in 1982, it's fair to say that most people had never seen anything quite like it.
There's no dialogue, no narrator -- just images and music (by Philip Glass). The story? No story. The sub-title of the movie is 'Life Out of Balance' and its sequences depict the ways in which humans have affected the environment. It may not win over hard-core action fans, but if you give yourself up to it, it's an extraordinary eighty-six minutes.
Reggio conceived it as the first in a trilogy and Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi followed. They're worth seeing, too, but if you're only going to watch one, make it Koyaanisqatsi (available on DVD).
written on Monday Nov 5, 2007
out of balance.
