Post by klep on Apr 16, 2018 6:42:37 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/16: Koyaanisqatsi
GREAT SCORES WEEK!
There are no words in Koyaanisqatsi to guide you. At least, none that any viewer is likely to recognize. The title is a Hopi word which translates literally as "chaotic life" but a better understanding of it would be "life out of balance," which is occasionally listed as the film's subtitle. With Koyaanisqatsi, Godfrey Reggio is trying to show us how life on Earth has become unbalanced, contrasting its natural splendor with the works and activity of man.
After a brief slow-motion shot of a rocket launch, Reggio starts off showing us tranquil images of the American southwest, rocky and desert but beautiful and awe-inspiring nonetheless. He luxuriates in the natural splendor, with beautiful time-lapses showing clouds moving over the landscare, casting their shadows over towers of rock. And then we see a detonation, and another, and a coal mining operation, and transmission lines, and a power plant sprawling over the landscape, unnatural and out of place.
Reggio then moves from liquid rivers to concrete ones, from stone towers to those of glass and steel. Reggio shows us mankind from a distance, as a mass exerting its will on the landscape, distorting and shaping the natural beauty with its own. At one point we see time-lapse footage of clouds moving over a glass skyscraper - a repeat of the earlier shot but with a manmade tower instead of a natural one.
Reggio has said it is up to the viewer to decide what the film means, and to my eye it is not entirely condemnatory of man. The cityscapes are a dramatic imposition on the natural landscape, but they frequently have a stark beauty nonetheless. There is an elegance in particular to the highway interchanges, and the streaks of light as the cars drive on streets at night are splendid.
But it is largely an either-or proposition. Man imposes his will on the landscape and it becomes his - city replaces nature, a nuclear plant looms over a beach, mining and war destroy and corrupt the land. It is out of balance, but balance may be possible to achieve. The famous shot of the moon rising in the background of a skyscraper suggests a beautiful harmony between man and nature is achievable, if only we can find it.
Without words, Reggio is only able to convey his ideas through his images and through music, so it is fortunate he had Philip Glass on hand. Glass' score is undeniably brilliant. Never too busy, it always leaves space for the viewer to absorb the film. Glass shifts tones adroitly - his score is slow and primal during the shots of nature, adopting more ominous tones as man intrudes, and even becomes bouncy and energetic as mankind's hustle and bustle fills the screen. As Reggio changes the images we see, it's Glass who sets the mood. His contribution is vital to the film; it simply would not work without it.
Together Reggio and Glass create one of the most sublime documentaries around, a brilliant work interrogating man's relationship with the world. It's a movie, it's an essay, it's a poem. It's a marvel.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/23: Johnny Guitar
WESTERN WEEK!
For Western Week we rejected some of the most heralded examples of the genre in favor of a Joan Crawford film from 1954 that I'd never heard of and I have to say I'm very intrigued. I'm quite looking forward to checking this film out and I hope you'll be joining me! Johnny Guitar is available on Amazon Video, where it is free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 4/17: Chicken Run
Stop-motion animated animals on a Quest is the podcast theme as Wes Anderson's new Isle of Dogs is paired up with 2000's Chicken Run. Join us Wednesday for a discussion of the highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time. Chicken Run is available on Netflix Instant and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
GREAT SCORES WEEK!
There are no words in Koyaanisqatsi to guide you. At least, none that any viewer is likely to recognize. The title is a Hopi word which translates literally as "chaotic life" but a better understanding of it would be "life out of balance," which is occasionally listed as the film's subtitle. With Koyaanisqatsi, Godfrey Reggio is trying to show us how life on Earth has become unbalanced, contrasting its natural splendor with the works and activity of man.
After a brief slow-motion shot of a rocket launch, Reggio starts off showing us tranquil images of the American southwest, rocky and desert but beautiful and awe-inspiring nonetheless. He luxuriates in the natural splendor, with beautiful time-lapses showing clouds moving over the landscare, casting their shadows over towers of rock. And then we see a detonation, and another, and a coal mining operation, and transmission lines, and a power plant sprawling over the landscape, unnatural and out of place.
Reggio then moves from liquid rivers to concrete ones, from stone towers to those of glass and steel. Reggio shows us mankind from a distance, as a mass exerting its will on the landscape, distorting and shaping the natural beauty with its own. At one point we see time-lapse footage of clouds moving over a glass skyscraper - a repeat of the earlier shot but with a manmade tower instead of a natural one.
Reggio has said it is up to the viewer to decide what the film means, and to my eye it is not entirely condemnatory of man. The cityscapes are a dramatic imposition on the natural landscape, but they frequently have a stark beauty nonetheless. There is an elegance in particular to the highway interchanges, and the streaks of light as the cars drive on streets at night are splendid.
But it is largely an either-or proposition. Man imposes his will on the landscape and it becomes his - city replaces nature, a nuclear plant looms over a beach, mining and war destroy and corrupt the land. It is out of balance, but balance may be possible to achieve. The famous shot of the moon rising in the background of a skyscraper suggests a beautiful harmony between man and nature is achievable, if only we can find it.
Without words, Reggio is only able to convey his ideas through his images and through music, so it is fortunate he had Philip Glass on hand. Glass' score is undeniably brilliant. Never too busy, it always leaves space for the viewer to absorb the film. Glass shifts tones adroitly - his score is slow and primal during the shots of nature, adopting more ominous tones as man intrudes, and even becomes bouncy and energetic as mankind's hustle and bustle fills the screen. As Reggio changes the images we see, it's Glass who sets the mood. His contribution is vital to the film; it simply would not work without it.
Together Reggio and Glass create one of the most sublime documentaries around, a brilliant work interrogating man's relationship with the world. It's a movie, it's an essay, it's a poem. It's a marvel.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/23: Johnny Guitar
WESTERN WEEK!
For Western Week we rejected some of the most heralded examples of the genre in favor of a Joan Crawford film from 1954 that I'd never heard of and I have to say I'm very intrigued. I'm quite looking forward to checking this film out and I hope you'll be joining me! Johnny Guitar is available on Amazon Video, where it is free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 4/17: Chicken Run
Stop-motion animated animals on a Quest is the podcast theme as Wes Anderson's new Isle of Dogs is paired up with 2000's Chicken Run. Join us Wednesday for a discussion of the highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time. Chicken Run is available on Netflix Instant and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.