[HN Gopher] 40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
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40 Years of Koyaanisqatsi
Author : pizza
Score : 187 points
Date : 2023-04-30 17:17 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.thecurb.com.au)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.thecurb.com.au)
| indigodaddy wrote:
| Does anyone know if either the iTunes or Vudu digital HD versions
| are from the Criteron Bluray versions, or just upscaled "HD" from
| MGM? I'm suspect of the quality that I might get if I buy the
| digital versions vs just shelling out for the Qatsi Bluray
| Criterion trilogy (I know that physical is always leaps and
| bounds better than streaming digital but that is not what this
| question is about).
| CalRobert wrote:
| There's a fantastic post-rock cover of the film's best-known song
| (Prophecies) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwolSFreL3M . I
| can't find anything about this band but I love this version of
| it.
| CalRobert wrote:
| "If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite
| disaster." "Near the day of Purification, there will
| be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky." "A
| container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which
| could burn the land and boil the oceans."
| fjfaase wrote:
| I saw Koyaanisqatsi in the theater when it was released in the
| Netherlands (june 1984).
| xnx wrote:
| Randomized gif version: https://www.monkeon.co.uk/gifaanisqatsi/
| kspyy wrote:
| this is a cool idea, thanks for sharing
| ano-ther wrote:
| I remember coming out of the cinema completely mesmerized. A but
| like reading poetry when you cannot express why it touches you.
|
| I watched quite a few experimental films and some can be long
| after only 5 minutes. Koyaanisqatsi on the other hand feels
| completely coherent and keeps its tension for 90 minutes even if
| I couldn't re-tell the story.
| newsclues wrote:
| I have smoked a lot of pot watching this.
| pestatije wrote:
| Koyaanisqatsi is a 1982 American experimental non-narrative film.
| It consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse footage of
| cities and many natural landscapes across the United States.
| binarymax wrote:
| GPT
| canjobear wrote:
| Don't forget the Philip Glass soundtrack!
| zabzonk wrote:
| i always thought that the score was the whole point
|
| just trying to think where i first saw it. i assumed it was
| at edinburgh university film soc (i was friends with the
| soc's chairman) but it can't be. some art-house place in
| london, i guess.
| teddyh wrote:
| [Spider Crab] Silence, GPT!
| jabradoodle wrote:
| Watching this movie on a large dose of LSD is quite the
| experience!
| speedgoose wrote:
| I guess watching a tumble dryer too.
| joelrwilliams1 wrote:
| Under-seen and under-appreciated film.
| bscphil wrote:
| The film was shot and framed in 4:3 but was cropped down (for
| reasons unknown to me) into widescreen for the theatrical and
| later the Blu-ray releases.
|
| There is a rare uncropped DVD release of it by a distributor
| called "IRE" out there. My understanding is that every copy of
| this release is autographed by the director, if you need some
| proof of artistic intent. AFAIK there's no definitive proof that
| this isn't just "open matte", but IMO the superiority of this
| release is pretty clear. You can find it on public torrent sites.
|
| Some more info here:
| https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Koyaanisqatsi-IRE-Fullscre...
| canjobear wrote:
| Does anyone have any information on the Hopi prophecies quoted in
| the article and in the film? Are they documented elsewhere? It
| seems a little suspicious to me that the Hopi text so closely
| matches 1970s American environmentalism/anxiety about nuclear
| weapons. I suspect there has been some creative translation.
|
| I actually wrote to the linguist listed in the Koyaanisqatsi
| credits for the original text in Hopi and he said he couldn't
| find it....
| 20after4 wrote:
| The hopi didn't have a written language. Their prophecies were
| an oral tradition which is somewhat recently (1963) documented
| as a written work: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Hopi-Frank-
| Waters/dp/0140045279
| hotpotamus wrote:
| Oppenheimer famously quoted the Bhagavad-Gita to describe
| witnessing/pulling off the first atomic detonation. I'd say
| that it was the first time that humanity actually controlled a
| godlike power, but gods and prophecies of apocalypse have long
| been a feature of religion. And it hardly seems surprising that
| native people would take issue with despoiling the land.
| bloqs wrote:
| Intriguing
| eep_social wrote:
| Thanks for the rabbit hole! If the wikipedia citations are
| reliable, you might check all three of:
|
| Christopher Vecsey. The Emergence of the Hopi People, in
| American Indian Quarterly, vol. 7, no. 3, American Indian
| Religions, 70 (Summer 1983).
|
| Harold Courlander. The Fourth World of the Hopis: The Epic
| Story of the Hopi Indians as Preserved in their Legends and
| Traditions, 201 University of New Mexico Press, 1987
|
| Susan E. James. "Some Aspects of the Aztec Religion in the Hopi
| Kachina Cult", Journal of the Southwest (2000)
|
| In particular, the wiki article [1] cites the first to claim,
| "Hopi mythology is not always told consistently and each Hopi
| mesa, or even each village, may have its own version of a
| particular story" which would presumably provide ample
| opportunities to walk in the gray area between quoting and
| creative translation you mention.
|
| In addition to that angle, the Palo Verde nuclear plant broke
| ground in 1976 [2] so it's not ridiculous to think that the
| public might have been concerned and discussing it around 1972
| when some of the first film was taken. No citation there but
| not would be another avenue to investigate.
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi_mythology
|
| [2]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Verde_Nuclear_Generating_...
| eesmith wrote:
| https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/83...
| (found by Google Scholar search for "Koyaanisqatsi Hopi" seems
| to give decent context
|
| > This episode of [Hopi] existence begins with the
| extraordinarily cruel act of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
| and Nagasaki in August 1945 by the United States' Air Force,
| near the end of World War II. Among the remote consequences of
| this attack, one or two years later, a group of Hopi of the
| Second Mesa at their ceremonial reunions (kivas) started
| "equating the atomic bomb with a prophetic story about a gourd
| of ashes which brought destruction when it was cast on the
| ground," according to anthropologist Brian D. Haley. By 1948,
| with the devastation of planet Earth in mind because of human
| greed, elders and religious leaders of the Second and Third
| Mesa decided it was urgent to share this prophecy with the
| "White people" so that everyone could be prepared for
| Purification Day, the moment when deity of the current fourth
| world, Maasaw, would come and redeem humanity, creating a new
| paradise on Earth.
|
| > The effort to spread the word on the ancient prophecies is
| what anthropologist Richard Clemmer designated the "Hopi
| Traditionalist Movement." The Hopi agenda, though, was more
| than a spiritual calling; it was very political. In 1949 they
| sent President Truman a letter in which they detailed their
| prophecies and message of awareness, but also their position
| about land ownership, mineral extraction permits, the cultural
| and political rights of indigenous peoples, and pending US
| policies. With the help of non-Native People, the movement got
| the attention of conscientious objectors and draft resisters of
| the Second World War, pacifists, anarchists, spiritual
| radicals, and, in time, the different counterculture circles of
| the 1950s, 60s and 70s ...
|
| > It's the mid 1970s and Godfrey Reggio does not have a name
| for the film he is shooting. His co-workers are telling him
| they are not going to get distribution or financial aid if he
| does not name it. Reggio had resisted to do so until then,
| because for him the images were the message. Persuaded, he
| starts searching for a word "with no cultural baggage, a new
| word to describe the world." ...
|
| > Living in Santa Fe, Reggio was near the Hopi reservation and
| had friends that were "Hopi devotees," as he calls them. They
| insisted on the connections between his creative project and
| the Traditional Hopi Movement's prophecies. He met David
| Monongye, one of the Hopi spokesmen of Hotevilla, by giving him
| a ride from the reservation to a doctor's appointment and they
| became friends. Reggio liked the idea of naming his film with
| an originally non-written language to evoke his argument that
| the literate culture he lived in was no longer a good describer
| for the insanity he saw all around. Thus, he contacted the
| linguist Ekkehart Malotki, who knew the Hopi language, and his
| Hopi co-worker Michael Lomatuway'ma. They introduced him to the
| word koyaanisqatsi, a concept that nailed his awareness. Reggio
| went to David Monongye for permission. "David said it's an
| ancient word," recalls Reggio today, "a word that's not in
| popular use. He didn't talk much about it, but he said the
| definition we had, took the meaning of the word." ...
|
| > Reggio not only asked for Monongye's opinion, he also went
| through two more examinations by clan leaders of other
| villages: first by Mina Lansa, the traditional leader of Old
| Oraibi, and her husband John, then by a group of members of the
| 2nd Mesa. Reggio felt as he had gone through an ecclesiastical
| interrogation once again, and in a language he couldn't
| understand, but with better results. All of them gave him
| consent.
| mfext wrote:
| Tough to say without being Hopi. There are many things they
| cannot share unless you're Hopi. Same with other tribes.
| Curious, what did the linguist say exactly?
| canjobear wrote:
| He confirmed that he provided texts to the singers and
| coached them in singing them, but said he filed the texts
| away and then lost them.
| detourdog wrote:
| In my twenties I did some Hopi Study and just recently while
| studying celestial navigation I was struck Hopi Blue Star
| image.
|
| https://kagi.com/images?q=hopi+spiral+image
|
| This struck me because if one traces star across the night sky
| it's like a spiral but if you trace a body in are solar system
| it's an arc.
|
| I think I'm an amateur at everything.
| trts wrote:
| One of my favorite films of all time, and still relevant today.
| As a young person it totally altered my view of time and
| humanity.
|
| Subsequent viewings have always revealed new interpretations as
| my life and surroundings changed. I think on the dvd director's
| commentary the director said something to this effect, how so
| many people he spoke with had completely takes on what the movie
| was about.
|
| Also part of the magic of the film was the active collaboration
| between Glass and Reggio as it was being filmed and re-cut; the
| music and the cinematography are inseparable.
| abruzzi wrote:
| Its interesting that he mentioned that mentioned that the music
| was used in Stranger Things, season 4. Season 3 used music from
| Glass's opera Satyagraha, Season 4 (at least in the scene I
| remember) starts the Koyaaniqatsi music but subtly transitions to
| music from Glass's opera Akhnaten. They're both exposition scenes
| where the bad guy explains what he's doing or his world view.
|
| I thought the music was particularly effective in those scenes.
| Clearly there is a Philip Glass fan on that show.
| nonoesp wrote:
| Can't count how many times I've played The Grid on loop.
|
| This piece resonates so much with what the movie and soundtrack
| evoked in me.
|
| I discovered Glass' works from it and love his discography.
| lebski88 wrote:
| A few years ago I saw go go penguin perform their imagining of
| the koyaanisqatsi soundtrack live. It was one of the best things
| I've ever seen. I was spellbound from start to finish.
| tgv wrote:
| I've seen the Philip Glass ensemble playing live to the movie!
| detourdog wrote:
| Me too at BAM where did you see it?
| dhosek wrote:
| I'm thinking that the performance that I saw had the PGE plus
| the Hollywood Bowl symphony playing live to the movie, but I
| could be misremembering it and the symphony may have played
| other material with the PGE before or after the movie.
| iwanttocomment wrote:
| I saw PGE and the LA Philharmonic performing live with the
| movie in 2009 at the Hollywood Bowl, and they also
| performed other pieces, so you're likely remembering
| correctly.
|
| https://www.nonesuch.com/journal/philip-glass-ensemble-la-
| ph...
| eigenvalue wrote:
| If you like this then I can't recommend Baraka highly enough, by
| the cinematographer of Koyaanisqatsi:
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraka_(film)
|
| No narration at all, just amazing visuals and music/sounds.
| Review by Ebert:
|
| https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-baraka-1992
| Alex3917 wrote:
| This. Koyaanisqatsi might be more important in cinematic
| history, but Baraka is actually enjoyable to watch.
|
| IMHO the best use for Koyaanisqatsi is as an answer when
| playing charades.
| sfpotter wrote:
| I find Koyaanisqatsi very enjoyable to watch.
| petercooper wrote:
| I hugely prefer Koy to Baraka, but the world takes all
| sorts. Baraka just feels like a lot of nice vignettes in
| random sequence. Koy walks through themes, builds upon
| them, then repeats them. It's more like a symphony.
| dhosek wrote:
| Back in the 90s a bunch of us watched the whole movie by
| accident. Somehow it came up in conversation and the guy
| whose house we were in happened to have a copy on VHS and
| he put it in and we got so mesmerized that while we only
| intended to watch a few minutes of it, we watched the whole
| thing.
|
| There are two "sequels" to Koyaanisqatsi: Powisqatsi and
| Naqoyqatsi, both also with Philip Glass soundtracks.
| detourdog wrote:
| I think the aesthetic of Koyaanisqatsi had a large effect of
| on film aesthetics. Breaking Bad's best scenes IMO were the
| Timelapses which I found very reminiscent Koyaanisqatsi.
| blululu wrote:
| Ron Fricke is person who made Koyaanisqatsi the beautiful
| visual journey that it is. I would recommend watching any of
| his other works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Fricke
| (FWIW, Powaqqatsi is also pretty good, but I would strongly
| suggest avoiding Naqoyqatsi which is just not very good).
| detourdog wrote:
| I have seen all three and don't recall ever making
| qualitative comparisons with anyone regarding the 3.
| adzm wrote:
| Despite that, I agree with their conclusions.
| pan69 wrote:
| Preview with The Host Of Seraphim by Dead Can Dance:
|
| https://vimeo.com/188504388
| dr_dshiv wrote:
| When thinking of Baraka and Koyaanisqatai, I think of
| Bodysong-- similar and very excellent. But music by Radiohead.
| curioussavage wrote:
| Thanks for mentioning this. Big fan of Philip Glass and
| Radiohead. I'm listening to the soundtrack right now. It's
| good!
| radicaldreamer wrote:
| Samsara is pretty great as well, mostly because of the
| impeccable cinematography and shelling out for 70mm film and
| lugging cameras and lenses which film in 70mm around the world.
| liampulles wrote:
| As close as it gets to a good feature length music video.
| petercooper wrote:
| And a direct inspiration upon music videos, too, particularly
| Madonna's _Ray of Light_ :
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ov9USxVxY
| contingencies wrote:
| A classic trilogy. See also this list of films in the category:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_feature_films_describe...
|
| I can also recommend _Manufactured Landscapes_.
| louthy wrote:
| Koyaanisqatsi is just one of those Magic films that you can start
| watching and think yeah whatever - and then as it goes on and on
| you just get more and more blown away by incredible intensity of
| the soundtrack and visuals. A really transcendental experience.
|
| The backstory that Philip Glass originally didn't want to score
| it is also amazing, as is the reason for Francis Ford Coppola's
| name being on the artwork even though he had nothing to do with
| the film.
|
| absolutely awesome
| netsharc wrote:
| > Francis Ford Coppola's name being on the artwork even though
| he had nothing to do with the film.
|
| Sounds like a strange take. From [1]:
|
| > Koyaanisqatsi opens with the words "Presented by Francis Ford
| Coppola." This simple endorsement by one of cinema's most
| renowned directors solidified the film's reputation and
| propelled it into movie theaters around the world.
|
| Not sure if FFC gave them money (I guess yes since he's
| credited as executive producer), even without money, his name
| would've been enough to open a lot of doors.
|
| Reminds of how Werner Herzog got involved in "The Act of
| Killing" [2], watching an 8-minute excerpt at breakfast was
| enough.
|
| [1] https://culturacolectiva.com/en/movies/francis-ford-
| coppolas...
|
| [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=87&v=LLQxVy7R9qo
| bazmattaz wrote:
| While this movie is great and everything the author says rings
| true, I must be honest and say for me the movie that floored me
| more was Baraka. It's just...astonishing, mesmorising,
| dumbfounding? I can't put into words now this movie makes me feel
| lioeters wrote:
| I was a teenager riding a bicycle through a neighborhood, when I
| came across a yard sale. Heard that someone had died. Among their
| things was a tape of the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack composed by
| Philip Glass. Bought it for a couple of bucks, and later that
| night was blown away by the music. I had heard nothing like it
| before - it made me shiver with awe and fear. It felt like the
| dead was reaching out through the sounds. A few years later I
| watched the film and had a vision of the monstrous beauty, this
| ancient swarming organism called humanity, of which I'm like a
| finger or toe, a leaf and flower. Hard to describe the influence
| this film has had on my view of the world, and what art can do to
| you - even now it gives me goose bumps remembering that aesthetic
| experience in my youth.
| Hammershaft wrote:
| I had a similiar experience watching Baraka as a young teen. It
| had felt like Humanity was some kind of mecanism propelling
| forward, and I was a tiny gear.
| jnsaff2 wrote:
| About 15 years ago I saw the film while a band played the
| soundtrack live. Philip Glass himself was playing some
| instruments.
| em-bee wrote:
| i was playing the soundtrack in my home until my flatmates
| asked me to stop "because it is scary"
| JoeDaDude wrote:
| A high school near where I lived at the time (southern New
| Jersey) created a mural in the cafeteria inspired by, and titled,
| Koyaanisqatsi. And this was in the early 90's well after the film
| had been shown in theaters.
| CalRobert wrote:
| Koyaaniscafe, surely?
| tempodox wrote:
| If you haven't seen the movie yet:
|
| https://watchdocumentaries.com/koyaanisqatsi/
| ncr100 wrote:
| Jeez still gets my heart pumping - watched just 3 minutes
| (0:45:00 -> 0:48:00 where it does the 'cars flowing like blood
| through veins in a city) and the real human orchestra music
| just nails it.
|
| The composition of the shots makes me ask, Why are we living
| this way? Good and bad outcomes, ofc, and the film makes me ask
| myself questions.
| [deleted]
| Jysix wrote:
| Movie deserves to be viewed in a better quality than this
| please
| eigenhombre wrote:
| Seeing this post/thread brings back some good memories!
|
| Am happy to see Phillip Glass is on Bandcamp. I found an old
| cassette copy of Koyaanisqatsi kicking around but also just got
| a digital copy of the soundtrack there; happy to support a
| living artist.
| CalRobert wrote:
| My kids (age 3 and 5) wanted to watch a movie and I didn't really
| want them watching one so I bluffed and put on Koyaanisqatsi.
| They (and I, for the first time in ~15 years) were enthralled.
| Ended up talking about poverty, etc.
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