Rent Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (1988)
3.8 of 5 from 146 ratings
2h 59min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Double bill featuring two of the films produced by the acclaimed partnership of composer Philip Glass and filmmaker Godfrey Reggio.
Koyaanisqatsi (1983)Prepare to experience a truly remarkable film - a cinematic masterpiece so extraordinary that it regales the senses, stimulates the mind and actually redefines the potential of filmmaking. Celebrated director Godfrey Reggio, innovative cinematographer Ron Fricke and Golden Globe-winning composer Philip Glass have created a spellbinding film so rich in beauty and detail that with each viewing it becomes a new and different film. Unique, profound, mesmerizing, and thought-provoking, Koyaanisqatsi contrasts the tranquil beauty of nature with the frenzied hum of contemporary urban society. Uniting breathtaking imagery with a hauntingly evocative, award-winning score, it is original and fascinating.
Powaqqatsi (1988)
Hailed by audiences and critics around the world as mesmerizing, this second instalment of writer/director Godfrey Reggio's apocalyptic "qatsi" trilogy is quite simply one of the most magnificent visual and aural spectacles ever made. Combining stunning cinematography with the exquisite music of award-winning composer Philip Glass, Powaqqatsi is a breathtaking experience working on many levels - emotional, spiritual, intellectual and aesthetic! Bold, haunting and epic in scale, this extraordinary film calls into question everything we think we know about contemporary society. By juxtaposing images of ancient cultures with those of modern life, Powaqqatsi masterfully portrays the human cost of progress. It is a film that engages the soul as well as the mind - it is truly an absorbing experience.- Actors:
- Lou Dobbs, Ted Koppel, Christie Brinkley, David Brinkley, Pope John Paul II, Dan Rather, Cheryl Tiegs
- Directors:
- Godfrey Reggio
- Producers:
- Godfrey Reggio, Francis Ford Coppola, Mel Lawrence, Kurt Munkacsi, Lawrence Taub
- Writers:
- Michael Hoenig, Ron Fricke, Godfrey Reggio, Alton Walpole, Ken Richards
- Aka:
- Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance / Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation
- Studio:
- MGM
- Genres:
- Documentary, Music & Musicals, Special Interest
- Collections:
- All the Twos: 1972-2012, Award Winners, The Biggest Oscar Snubs: Part 2, A Brief History of Film...
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 12/05/2014
- Run Time:
- 185 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM Stereo
- Subtitles:
- None
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New, restored digital transfers of Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, approved by director Godfrey Reggio
- Introduction by Filmmaker and Composer Gary Tarn (Black Sun, The Prophet)
- Interviews with Reggio and composer Philip Glass on the making of films
- Anima Mundi (1992): Reggio's 28-minute montage of over seventy animal species, scored by Philip Glass
- Original Theatrical Trailers for Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi
- Disc 1:
- This disc includes the following:
- Koyaanisqatsi
- Special Features - Disc 2:
- This disc includes the following:
- Powaqqatsi
- Special Features
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Reviews (2) of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi
Mesmorising and hypnotic - Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi review by CP Customer
Beautiful, hypnotic and, at times menacing, Koyaanisqatsi is a film of images recorded using time lapse photography set to the trance-like rhythms of a Philip Glass score. The film passes from the elemental, filmed in the vast American landscapes, and proceeds into the hurly burly cityscapes of modern American. The vast rocky expanse of the Canyonlands National Park awe through their timeless existence whilst the teaming cities rush towards exhaustion. In the modern world, the precision and dexterity of hotdog packing machines, traffic control systems and the mechanical assembly line contrast with the chaotic ballet of commuters, city traffic and assembly line workers. Throughout the film an underlying spirituality is maintained through the cathedral organ and Gregorian chants which bring calm to Glass’ hectic score, these are juxtaposed with pictograms sketched onto rocks by Fremont Indians suggesting a past unconscious of the nuclear future to come. This is a film without words but which speaks volumes.
5 out of 5 members found this review helpful.
Life Out of Balance, Volume Turned Up - Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi review by griggs
Some films you watch; others you give in to, and this is firmly in the second camp. Plot, characters, dialogue – gone. Instead Koyaanisqatsi gives you wall-to-wall images and Philip Glass hammering a rhythm straight into your head. The Hopi title, “life out of balance”, and the prophecies at the end make it clear this isn’t just a trippy montage; it’s a warning.
Reggio eases you in with deserts and clouds, then hurls you into cities, freeways and factory lines until people look like parts of the machinery. The failed rocket launch, hanging in slow motion as it falls apart, feels like the whole film in one shot.
It dips into “film-studies fresher on a Sunday comedown” now and then, and some sections keep going after you’ve got the point. But on a big screen with the sound up, it’s mesmerising – like a live gig about civilisation quietly eating itself.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.