Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Godfrey Reggio

Writers:

Ron Fricke (writer)
Michael Hoenig (writer)

Release Date:

27 October 1983 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

October 4, 1982. More than 5,000 people filled the sold out Radio City Music Hall to experience a remarkable film event. That event was the world premiere of KOYAANISQATSI. Now everyone can share the power of that experience.

Plot:

A movie with no conventional plot: merely a collection of expertly photographed scenes. Subject matter has a highly environmental theme.

Plot Keywords:

Environment | Technology | Nature | Native American | Cloud

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Ted Koppel

...

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:G (video rating) | UK:U | Finland:S | Sweden:7 | USA:Unrated | Germany:6 | Australia:G | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Francis Ford Coppola Presents

Trivia:

Godfrey Reggio did a series of short films for the Institute of Regional Education, consisting of a stream of images to the theme of the invasion of privacy. It was here that Reggio met cinematographer 'Ron Fricke'. An attempt to bring these films to national attention failed, thus the next logical step was to create a feature film - "Koyaanisqatsi".

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: About an hour into the movie, the camera operator is reflected in the elevator's glass window as the elevator passes "between" floors while shooting the escalators.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Wanderlust (2006) (TV)

An Interiorized Film

This film communicates to you from the realm beyond words. If you want to muck up the purity of the experience by letting the infernal adjective machine stamp out labels and reactive prose poems through its 80 some minutes and afterward, you may not have been the ideal candidate to see this film. It begins with Russian Orthodox style basso profundo voices enunciating the title over images of petroglyphs, and then begins its journey: From the places beyond things, rock and sky, to the things we have girded ourselves in, cities. It is a wordless, feeling thing.

Ten stars. Pity it wasn't an IMAX.