The last scene is breathtaking - perhaps the saddest one ever.

the movie forces us to ask ourself this question: "why dig deeper?"

Highly creative and original documentary. There was nothing else like it when it came out, and there's still not except for its followups

Absolutely breathtaking images, and a brilliant score by Glass. The message is a little heavy-handed, but at the same time I can't say I disagree with it (and I definitely don't agree with Ebert who says the smokestacks look noble or w/e). Awe-inspiring.

The images in this film went very deep. Showing the very core of our society today, which is mass consumerism. Godfrey Reggio created a very emotional film with a great soundtrack to show how the earth has been infected with the industrial culture our people live in.

The cinematography is flooring, and the message is an important one. Everyone should see this film.

Worth a look - interesting images and ear-pleasing music.

While it works without any dialogue, Koyaanisqatsi sure is evocative and full of messages. "Machine does not make change" - that one kind of stuck with me. Philip Glass' soundtrack is dead on.

Beautiful movie.

Honestly, not wild about the overly stylized portrait of nature and modern life, as it seems to undercut the point he's driving at rather than uphold it. In particular, his use of time-lapse photography poses a problem. Stunning to look at? Of course. But what more? The problem is especially pronounced in the case of the time-lapse featuring people, the individuals in the shots seeming to lose their humanity, becoming little more than objects in an art piece.

Probably one of the best uses of music in a film.

Boring visual essay that should be 20 minutes, not 90 minutes.

Although I'm not such a fan of experimental film, Koyaanisqatsi should be worth watching. Of course its strength lies in its cinematography, and editing. And the message as well.

A perfect blend of audio and visual. Koyaanisqatsi should be exempt from traditional film standards and appreciated for what it is, an experience.

#972

I was quite conflicted about this film at first, until I encountered a wonderful quote by the director who says the film is not just about humankind choosing between "beauty and the beast", but the film is also about the "beauty of the beast". So the film is perhaps not quite as straightforward and didactic as it first seems. It is also often a stunningly beautiful experience, is impressive as a document of our species and the ending is profoundly sad. I'd like to see it again.

The synergic synthesis of audio and video allows to tell the story of the earth, nature and mankind without words, which is deeply moving and mindblowing.

Although many images are outdated, I found that the meanings of many scenes still hold true. The 'Clockwork Orange Soundtrack on acid' is far too consistent and tends not to fit the image on the screen during the beginning. I was hoping for more images of industrial and natural contrast, although the few that were presented were satisfactory. The middle section of the film was by far my favorite.

A harrowing film that presents humanity as a miserable species, trapped in an infinite number of interconnected assembly lines which produce nothing of any value or meaning. While the film contains many striking and hypnotic imagery, the most powerful moments are during the devastating final act, where the perspective shifts to the individuals helplessly trapped in this system and to their futile attempts to transcend or escape it.

Time lapse photography at its best. It has a dated feel to it, and it's very very soothing to watch. Highly reccomended.

Watch it with the volume cranked aallllll the way up. Goosebumps, baby.

This is post-rock if it had to be a movie. Absolutely breathtaking. Leaves you thinking about the way we live.

Pure Cinema

[re-watch] As far as I know, this is the first visual poem ever made. Reggio combines beautifully shot, often slow-motion or time-lapse footage and visceral music by Phillip Glass to show what he sees wrong in modern world. Subtlety is not his forte, and it often feels like Reggio wanted even slowest minds to understand what he is saying. First time I saw this I was blown away, now I feel much more critical about it.

Seeing Baraka first kinda ruined my first viewing of this, but it's still pretty great (and the music is excellent).

I think people try real hard to like this one, so they can claim to having gone through an intellectual and aesthetic experience only a certain class of people can go through. Of course, I believe there are some who genuinely like this. Truth is this bored me half to death, the music was excruciating, and although some of the sequences were well shot, the way they were put together was an exercise in arbitrariness.