KOYAANISQATSI 'Life out of balance' by Godfrey Reggio and the team

23rd November 2015 

 

Today I've seen quite unusual movie called KOYAANISQATSI (1982) by Godfrey Reggio (producer and creative director), Ron Frickle (photography) and Phillip Glass (music). It was the longest movie with no words I have ever seen and an amazing journey through the world history from its very beginning until now. II think, it was all about taking a journey, not really about its exact destination. It took six years and lots of effort and expense to create the film, but I agree with the producers that it was well worth it.  

The title was taken from Hopi language and it could be translated as 'Life out of balance'. This film is defined as postmodernist critique of existing world, where one way of life always calls for another. The production is extraordinary for many reasons. It describes indescribable, it doesn't have formal narrative or cultural baggage, as it has non-literate form. It goes beyond words and it's breaking the boundaries of traditional cinematography. The music and imagery are employed instead, to build the atmosphere and story allowed to be created in viewer's mind (which is intended by the authors).  It was made by an enormous team and it has as many authors as spectators, because we're all involved in it as we watch. It's up to us how we experience the subject. I also find it amazing because it was created through very complex and rather difficult process with pre-digital, analogue cameras. The production builds an emotional connection with the audience through rapidly changing sequences, through eye contact between the viewer and the characters, turning points, such as moon shadowed by the skyscraper or apocalyptical city buildings collapsing.

It was also quite spiritual experience, it was like looking at the world from behind the scene, from different perspective, possibly from God's perspective. I think, the concept related to cave paintings (from very basic stage of human kind) or maybe also to biblical act of creation.
I've noticed that during first twenty minutes there isn't any appearance of human at all. It has got a frame of the same image and music (identical in the beginning and in the end; some sort of cave painting and meditative singing). As we've listened to a few words from creators afterwards, it was inspired by very universal symbol of an 'eye in a triangle' (a signifier of God). Generally it gives national feel and it can be universally translated. It shows how fragile our life is, how constant is cycle of life and its essence. It relates to numerous aspects of living, such as ecological issues and technological progress, mass culture or art. It's a peculiar contemplation of life. We never really know what it can bring.

Movie creators didn't know what the outcome is going to be straight away. There is an aspect of Dolce Vita ('Sweet Life'), but also threat of life, injustice, dramatic changes, explosions and loosing control. It shows everything within human life and technology. Reggio states that everything, such as politics, education, language, the culture, religion, finances, nations exists within technology; we live technology. Well... that's where human destined himself... through progress to the world we live in now. Technology indeed took over big part of our lives, but I disagree that everything exists within it. When thinking of a title, I reckon it was a good choice and great concept. It forms its universal character and together with lack of words during the movie, describes indescribable. I think the point gets across with considerate collage and dynamic juxtapositions of images and music.

Poster: Conor Culhane (2015)

Before the human kind appears the 'KOYAANISQATSI' film seems to be a bit boring and tiring for the viewer; scenes are repeated and monotonous. I think the first twenty minutes and some of urban movement in later stage could be slightly reduced to possibly become more interesting from the beginning, right to the end. That's the only thing I would change a little bit. Besides I think it's an amazing production! It's for anybody, it's universal and relates to anyone, to any human. It's like an artistic sight of world existence, a physical visual form of its history. Changes in imagery and a plot are identified by music coordinated with movement and emotions. There are sequences easy to separate. It made me think of continuousness and crumbliness of life. The beginning is all about nature and its power shown from very different angles, shown alive and changing speed. It's about development of towns and cities; its about The Beginning.

After first twenty minutes of the movie I got actually a bit bored and impatient at first. But the first impression has changed and my overall overview gives it a masterpiece status. There're rocks, islands (earth), mosaic of fields (it seems like you swimming while looking), clouds rapidly or very slowly moving (feels a bit like flying in the sky), water, explosions (fire). So there are all four elements of natural power. In about twenty-second minute proper image of people appears (couple of minutes before it would be just human shape). They're looking high up on the glass skyscrapers reflecting the clouds, looking quite surprised, happy, wondering... Then we've got an aeroplane appearing in very hypnotic way, busy urban landscape and age of cars, human masses and all of it was like short-lived illusion. Afterwards there is a war... tanks and rocket exploding into the galactic space... and then city again with its enormous buildings. Three men sitting on the street and others just passing through time to time. Now it reminds me of God a little, as being one but in three persons. And generally I have started to think of it as we were shown God's perspective in the movie... especially after seeing a bit of inspiration from the authors - the eye closed in a triangle (symbolic).

There's beautiful semiotic language applied all the way through the film. Wind, shadows, flock of birds flying there and back, symbols of period of particular times in history. There's a very apocalyptic view of collapsing cities, fog and clouds uncovering birth of new ones. Life goes back to the cycle... American life style (day and night cycle, street lights show, music and image speeding up in final time-laps, 'rat race'), machinery, manufactories and distribution, underground rush again, consumerism and first appearance of computers (it feels like people are marionettes played by time). More cars, subways, lifts, buildings, products... Although I've said before that the movie is universal, it's very accented by American culture, especially nearer the end while the flag is exposed. It goes through the tunnel of news and TV invention, through different styles and subcultures, modernism. Two men sit in the car and seem to move towards the future. 1hour 3 minutes - the first time movie is completely silent for few seconds, before an anxious music continues.

The most influencing and touching moment was to get into an eye contact with some characters. Suddenly viewer feels observed and it becomes almost 3D motion. Really striking for me was seeing a man shaving his beard randomly in the middle of the pavement (looking towards us as into his reflection in the mirror) or quite old woman intensively smoking a cigarette. Afterwards shadows appear and it starts snowing, but it looked a bit like someone was ripping a piece of paper. In the end a rocket explodes again into space for a little while and then it falls slowly back down in blue background firing gently again. The emotional piano music has followed the contemplative singing bit.