Godfrey Reggio tells viewers to take what they want from the trilogy of which Koyaanisqatsi (life out of balance) is the first part. Which is a little disingenuous.In 1982, industrialisation's effects on the environment were not the big news they are today. There were no camera drones, either, so getting spectacular aerial footage of the planet, whether of deserts or industrial landscapes was a more ambitious undertaking. If you watch it with the sound off, you see many now-commonplace variations of spectacular photography, time-lapse footage and slo-mo footage; cuts much longer than we're used to today, of all kinds of (all-American) beautiful landscapes and less beautiful cityscapes. The general message, ie that humankind isn't such a beautiful thing, isn't hard to discern.Now listen to the Philip Glass soundtrack without the visuals. Portentous, meandering, it never stays in one groove long enough to suggest that it's anything but background, ambient music. George Gershwin it ain't.Put them together, and you still don't feel anything but a mild approval for the vague message, and mild admiration for the hard work that must have gone into the editing, if nothing else. In 1982, Koyaanisqatsi was kind of left-field. Today it's left behind.

I actually learned about this film from reading a review of some quite different movie right here on IMDb and have been on the lookout for it ever since. A search through my library system produced no results, so seeing it come up on the TCM cable listing the other night I managed to DVR it for watching this morning. I had to laugh actually, because the guest host for the viewing was actor Alec Baldwin. What better choice for this odd sounding film, the name of which is derived from the Hopi Indian language which loosely translates as 'life out of balance'. Off the top of my head I can't think of many other hosts who's own life may be out of balance enough to perform the duty. Just recall that phone call rant to his daughter that went viral some years ago and you'll make the connection.This film won't be for everyone's taste, that I'll grant. It's a wordless picture relying on an abundant sequence of images meant to convey both the dichotomy and interconnection between Man and Nature. Some will see it as an indictment on Mankind, thrust into a pristine world and polluting it by his mere presence. I don't see it in that harsh regard, though some of the images are indeed stark and troubling.Part of the film's strength involves the power and majesty of Nature's elemental forces juxtaposed with scenes of harmonic tranquility. It begins in a sense, from the beginning, with images from areas of the country resembling Utah's Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon, looking almost prehistoric in nature. A reverential musical score from Philip Glass lends support to the ethereal beauty of the images on screen, so it's all the more jarring when Man's machines and structures make their first intrusion on this glorious landscape. The rubble of Man's failures are highlighted in images of abandoned ghettos and ruined neighborhoods, but the film narrative successfully moves on to reveal the immense creativity and excitement of his creations. City life teems with extraordinary energy, especially at night with vibrant time lapse photography that captures the vitality of humanity.With a keen eye and superb editing, the film makers make a humorous visual statement with a cleverly placed theater marquee above a bustling city street that offers it's own critique of harried modern life - 'Grand Illusion'. Another clever contrast is made between a bank of escalators moving at a rapid pace, disgorging thousands into a grand terminal, while the next sequence involves an Oscar Mayer assembly line furiously producing hot dogs for the masses. The point is well made, life is indeed too fast and one must stop to smell the roses if any sense is to be made of one's existence at all. This I think is where the grand vision of the project is intended to lead us, to make us stop and think, and maybe think about stopping to enjoy the wondrous beauty of the world around us.

Koyaanisqatsi is what you would get if took the filler shots from numerous documentaries and smashed them together accompanied by some music. And yeah, that's me being somewhat harsh, but it's not much better than that, really. There's artistic flair to it and it does explore certain themes, but it's still more of a mood piece than anything else.Plus I have a problem with the aforementioned themes. The word 'koyaanisqatsi' comes from Hopi language and literally means "chaotic life". Essentially life in turmoil, life out of balance. And while the film makers have said that everyone is free to view the film as they wish, it's pretty clear that their own intentions were to portray the downsides of modern society, of human existence in general. Except I didn't get that from the film. The first part of the film of generic nature landscapes is extremely boring and ordinary. It's only after humans start to show up, and we start to see time lapses of industry and technology, that things get interesting.And yeah, the movie shows us behaving like ants. Mindless masses passing through gates of steel and pillowing smoke. But, if we are ants, we are ants that will eventually populate the stars. We achieve, we build, we evolve ourselves. To me the whole movie is a message of triumph, of small people coming together to achieve something. And thus, as the intended message starts to become clearer near the end of the film, I was left feeling betrayed and baffled.Koyaanisqatsi is not for everyone. It's very slow, requires patience to sit through and you kind of have to agree with its message to get the full experience. Personally I didn't care for it, but I've talked with people that absolutely loved it. And even I can appreciate its flair and attempt, to some extent. Check it out if you're looking for something with a lot of edge.

This strange title hide a movie which critics the world of today, who is evolve constantly but since the human is living on this planet, the pollution is common."Koyaanisqatsi" is an awesome movie for cinema lover peoples because it contains fabulous images and a wonderful music. This movie make us think about the actions of the human on the environment. After watched this movie, i realize the earth changed a lot since the human use it. But, i think some shots in this movie are a bit slow.Directed by an unknown people with the name of Godfrey Reggio, formerly monk, this movie will stays in my mind and i don't will hesitate to watch it again.A must see movie.