Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi
A black film poster with a dark gray background pattern resembling a circuit board. "KOYAANISQATSI" appears in large red text, with "LIFE OUT OF BALANCE" beneath in small white text. The poster also includes the quote "Until now, you've never really seen the world you live in" and "A remarkable film event" in addition to filmmaker credits listed throughout.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGodfrey Reggio
Written by
Produced byGodfrey Reggio
CinematographyRon Fricke
Edited by
  • Alton Walpole
  • Ron Fricke
Music byPhilip Glass
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • September 5, 1982 (1982-09-05) (TFF)
  • October 4, 1982 (1982-10-04) (NYFF)
  • April 27, 1983 (1983-04-27) (limited release)
Running time
86 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
Budget$2.5 million[1][3]
Box office$3.2 million[4]
Grand Central Terminal in New York City is shown several times in the film.

Koyaanisqatsi[b] is a 1982 American non-narrative documentary film directed and produced by Godfrey Reggio, featuring music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke. The film consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse footage (some of it in reverse) of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and music. Reggio explained the lack of dialogue by stating "it's not for lack of love of the language that these films have no words. It's because, from my point of view, our language is in a state of vast humiliation. It no longer describes the world in which we live."[6] In the Hopi language, the word koyaanisqatsi means "life out of balance".[7]

It is the first film in The Qatsi Trilogy, which was followed by Powaqqatsi (1988) and Naqoyqatsi (2002).[8] The trilogy depicts different aspects of the relationship between humans, nature and technology. Koyaanisqatsi is the best known of the trilogy and is considered a cult film.[9][10] However, because of copyright issues, the film was out of print for most of the 1990s.[11] In 2000, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, aesthetically, or historically significant".[12][13]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference afi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Koyaanisqatsi (U)". British Board of Film Classification. 1983. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  3. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-8357-1776-2.
  4. ^ Plantinga, Carl (May 16, 2006). "The 1980s and American Documentary". In Williams, Linda Ruth; Hammond, Michael (eds.). Contemporary American Cinema. McGraw Hill Education. p. 291. ISBN 0-3352-2843-7. Retrieved February 24, 2023 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Hopi Dictionary Project 1998, pp. 863–864.
  6. ^ Carson, Greg (director) (2002). Essence of Life (DVD). MGM Home Entertainment.
  7. ^ "Film: Koyaanisqatsi". Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  8. ^ "TCM.com".
  9. ^ "Cult Koyaanisqatsi blends music, film". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  10. ^ Cult Movies on Videocassette, 1987 - Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews
  11. ^ "Koyaanisqatsi". Spirit of Baraka. May 21, 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2008.
  12. ^ "Welcome to Koyaanisqatsi". www.koyaanisqatsi.org. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  13. ^ Brief Descriptions and Expanded Essays of National Film Registry Titles|Library of Congress


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