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Koyaanisqatsi

Documentary · Music

Koyaanisqatsi

Life out of balance

7.9(777) 4/27/1983 1h 26m
DocumentaryMusic

Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.

Part of the Qatsi Collection
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Trailer

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Top Cast

Ed Asner

Ed Asner

Self (archive footage)

Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar

Self

Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson

Self (archive footage)

Dick Cavett

Dick Cavett

Self (archive footage)

Marilyn Chambers

Marilyn Chambers

Self (archive footage)

Sammy Davis Jr.

Sammy Davis Jr.

Self (archive footage)

Lou Dobbs

Lou Dobbs

Self (archive footage)

Linda Ellerbee

Linda Ellerbee

Self (archive footage)

Directed by

Godfrey Reggio

Production

Reviews

Peter McGinn

5/10

9/20/2020

This is an art film of sorts, eschewing dialogue or narration or a recognizable plot for a visual and musical banquet of images and scenes. So if you are into art films (or want to appear like you are), this is the film for you. The photographic techniques remind me of nature films, which may not be a coincidence since the subject matter seems to Focus on what is seen as being against nature. So it is all here: explosions and collapsing of buildings, a bridge, about five times, even what looked like a nuclear blast; then time lapse photography of city and highway traffic and masses of people walking; plus slow motion clips of masses of people walking; and shots of tenements and abandoned building and kids playing in water from fire hydrants — well, you get the idea. I like Philip G

Filipe Manuel Neto

1/10

10/6/2023

**For the general public, this film is uninteresting. However, it will have merits if displayed within the most correct context.** I've heard of this film as a documentary, but I honestly don't know if Godfrey Reggio really wanted to document anything. This was the director's debut, and for a first work we can say that there is quality, even though it is a somewhat strange film because it has nothing more than a soundtrack and successive images, which do not seem to have a relationship with each other. If this is an experimental film, I also can't understand what this director really wanted to experiment with. Making a film without a script and without a story? Honestly, this film looks a lot like those successive images that are sometimes shown in waiting rooms, for whoever is sitti

CinemaSerf

7/10

2/6/2025

In the Hopi language, this means a mess or a melée and that’s a pretty good description of this ultimate in observational documentaries. It starts and finishes showing us some of the most stunning and striking natural phenomena from the North American continent before gradually dipping its toe into the world of human endeavour. From some of the most impressive features nature created over millennia to some almost as remarkable creations mankind has erected in a tiny percentage of that time. Whilst not on the scale of the Grand Canyon, there are some human feats that are worth acclaiming here as Philip Glass’s score takes us on this tour. Now I didn’t always love that musical commentary. At times it borders on the soporific, but for the most part it goes hand in hand with some cleverly edit

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