Naqoyqatsi (2002)

Director:

Godfrey Reggio

Writer:

Godfrey Reggio (written by)

Release Date:

21 January 2003 (Czech Republic)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

Test-drive the future

Plot:

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

Plot Keywords:

Technology | Violence | Hollywood Sign | Part Animation | Advertising

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bella Donna	...	(archive footage)
Elton John	...	Himself (archive footage)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Herself (archive footage)
Madonna	...	Herself (archive footage)
Bhagwan Mirchandani	...	Business Man
Jack Shamblin	...	Atomic Adam
Steven Soderbergh	...	Man reflected in digital screens (3rd segment)
Troy Aikman	...	Himself (at Super Bowl XXX) (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Beatles	...	Themselves (archive footage) (uncredited)
Osama bin Laden	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Fidel Castro	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Warren Christopher	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bill Clinton	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Dalai Lama	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Thomas A. Edison	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Albert Einstein	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Nikita Khrushchev	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Henry Kissinger	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
V.I. Lenin	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Greg Louganis	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jeff Maksym	...	Himself (uncredited)
Zedong Mao	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pope John Paul II	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself - Assassination Attempt (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jimmy Swaggart	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Godfrey Reggio

Writing credits
Godfrey Reggio		(written by)

Produced by
Joe Beirne	....	producer
Lauren Feeney	....	assistant producer
Steve Goldin	....	associate producer
Mel Lawrence	....	co-producer
Federico Negri	....	line producer
Godfrey Reggio	....	producer
Steven Soderbergh	....	executive producer
Lawrence Taub	....	producer

Original Music by
Philip Glass

Cinematography by
Russell Lee Fine

Film Editing by
Jon Kane

Makeup Department
Sanja Milic	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Michele Barrett	....	production manager: Detroit
Susan Lazarus	....	post-production supervisor
Sophia Lin	....	production manager: New York City

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jon Kane	....	second unit director

Art Department
Jon Kane	....	visual designer

Sound Department
Steve Boeddeker	....	sound designer
Martin Czembor	....	sound re-recording mixer
Matthew Griffin	....	sound apprentice (as Matt Griffin)
Noah Katz	....	assistant sound designer
Avi Laniado	....	engineering support
Mario McNulty	....	assistant sound engineer
Nathaniel Reichman	....	sound services
Steve F.B. Smith	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby

Visual Effects by
Manuel Gaulot	....	visual effects and image reanimation
Lucien Harriot	....	digital effects artist
Cameron Hickey	....	original CGI animator
Zachary David Medow	....	original CGI animator

Camera and Electrical Department
John Bailey	....	camera operator: guest camera
Christopher Bottoms	....	assistant camera
John Clemens	....	first assistant camera: New York City
Michael J. Conner	....	chief electrician: Detroit
Jesse Cory	....	grip
Timothy Housel	....	additional camera operator
Rob Salviotti	....	Steadicam assistant

Editorial Department
David Abelson	....	assistant film editor
Don Ciana	....	color timer
Joe Gawler	....	digital intermediate colorist
Karla P. Henwood	....	conforming editor
Karla P. Henwood	....	first assistant editor
Bill Morrison	....	additional editor
Stan Sztaba	....	negative cutter
Harold Lee Yen	....	apprentice editor

Music Department
Albert de Ruiter	....	musician: bass vocalist
Jack Kripl	....	musician: flute
Yo-Yo Ma	....	musician: cello solos
Kurt Munkacsi	....	music producer
Nathaniel Reichman	....	assistant music studio director
Michael Riesman	....	conductor
John Moses	....	musician: clarinetist (uncredited)

Other crew
Jeffrey A. Brown	....	assistant production coordinator: New York City
Ty Burr	....	project realization
Boris Cifuentes	....	production assistant
Ray Hemenez	....	image research director
Miroslav Janek	....	continuity
Ekkehart Malotki	....	consultant: Hopi language
Sam Taub	....	production assistant
Christian Zak	....	technical director

Thanks
George Lucas	....	continuing thanks

Production Companies

• Miramax Films
• Qatsi Productions

Distributors

• RCV Film Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Toshiba Entertainment (Japan) (theatrical)
• Cecchi Gori Home Video (2004) (Italy) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Mikado
• Miramax Films
• RCV Film Distribution (Belgium)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• Spin Film (Czech Republic)
• StudioCanal (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• TFM Distribution
• West

Special Effects

• Mechanism Digital

Other Companies

• Skywalker Sound  sound editorial services provided by

Also Known As:

"Naqoyqatsi: Life as War" - USA (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for violent and disturbing images, and for brief nudity

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:G | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:G | USA:PG (certificate #39003) | Iceland:L | Hungary:14 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Michigan Central Depot - W. Vernor and W. Michigan Avenues, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

The word "Naqoyqatsi" is a noun from the Hopi language literally meaning "each other-kill many-life", as stated in the film's end roll.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Ultimate Doom (1993) (VG)

The exploration of the human kind continues scientifically, not intellectually.

'Between innocence and politics' would be a Donnie Darkesque mistake to describe the experience of this movie. There's more than one dimension in the world of Reggio and Glass. Especially Jon Kane adds a dimension in my opinion. At times I was a bit disappointed that the creators couldn't resist the temptation of getting rather political and explicit. That wasn't necessary to entertain the audience more. Some may put it like certain sequences are on the verge of being political, but the engagement annoyed me. The Beastie Boys video 'Something's got to give' did it better.

Animation/CGI has been completely aesthetically accepted as means of returning to the level of part one with bits of Tron, bytes of the Matrix, snippets of 2001 and views of Avalon (Oshii, 2001). Together with Glass's magnificent tunes and 'skywalker sound' Naqoyqatsi almost reaches the massive level of Koyaanisqatsi.

Reggio and Kane return to computer-mainboards, cultivation of nature, escalation of conflicts, but this powerful and almost scientific exploration of all kinds of human conflicts still has little intellectual value. Not even if it featured a thousand computer generated symbols, Leonardo Da Vincis, Madame Tussauds, American presidents, Hieronymus Boschs, terrorists or babies. The explicit and excessive use of facial icons and expressions diminishes the universal value as well. I was charmed by the portrayal of internal fights that sportsmen and -women experience (but why did they forget rowing sequences?). It still is way better than the picturesque Powaqqatsi, not only because this has less stock shots, apart from some military parades and nuclear mushrooms. I'm glad Soderbergh shoved it forward. 8/10 (Koyaanisqatsi after reconsidering 9/10, Powaqqatsi 6/10)