Koyaanisqatsi
Movie · 1982 · Reviewed on
I don’t fully know how to describe this film and why it affected me to this degree. It truly makes no assumptions.
It’s such a pure form of media, it can only exist as a piece of film. Any form of description is inevitably compression, and I can’t find any compression that doesn’t lose the essence of why it works.
This is a film derived from first principles. Given the medium of visuals and sound, how do you communicate a message?
Watching this film feels like a deeply thought out answer to that question.
On a technical level, this film is perfect. There’s no fluff, every shot is beautiful and filled with a sense of intent. The soundtrack is the main reason I kept going at first.
Philip Glass’s work hits all emotions with precision and I can’t help but be drawn in as the composition rises and falls. It is true artistic mastery to be able to pull off this level of composition and energy and maintain it for the entire runtime.
I urge whoever is reading this to not read further if you haven’t watched this film. For this specific film, it’s important that you come away with your own interpretation and experience of this film as untainted by words as is possible.
Without further ado, here’s my interpretation, I believe this film is an impassive window into the transformation of the earth and of its residents. It speaks of the systems we’ve built up as we try to grow away from the natural structures of the earth; away from the desert, the savannah and the forest. It documents the destruction and meticulous erosion of this natural world to lead to industrialization and technology. As that transition happens, humanity flourishes but becomes cogs within the technology that they themselves have created. Vast cityscapes are shown, but so is debris and wear when you zoom in. Long rivers of red and white flood the cities at night. Our patterns of behaviour become predictable when seen en masse. Our behaviours become frenetic and cyclical, unlike the unchanging structures of nature that we left behind.
I say this is an impassive window as the film just seems to document. It passes no opinion of its own. It simply seems to show this change and asks us what we think of it.
I’m really glad I saw this, I haven’t seen a film like this, the closest I can think of is the ending of Babylon. Incredible piece of work.
