Powaqqatsi

Powaqqatsi (1988)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Godfrey Reggio

Starring: This is a documentary

From: Cannon; yes, Golan-Globus

I figured that tonight I should watch something different and this certainly fit the bill, a documentary only told through images and and music. I talk about it below and I'll return tomorrow night.

"Powaqqatsi: An entity, a way of life, that consumes the life forces other beings in order to further its own life"--- the definition of the Hopi word as explained at the end of the film

I knew I needed a change of pace from what I had been watching as of late; I thought about it for a bit then realized I should watch the first sequel to the arthouse classic Koyaanisqatsi, which I saw last year. While this isn't as great as that original movie, it doesn't mean you shouldn't watch this.

The focus of this is different; this time a lot of it was filmed in the Southern Hemisphere and what the movie about is less ambiguous. The above quote is from the end of the movie and it does accurately describe what the images and the music (again from Philip Glass but this time it was more upbeat) were showing, which is that the old way of life in those countries and the old traditions are being eradicated by the impact of modern societies forcing its way in.

While it doesn't have the sweeping camerawork of Ron Fricke (who did the first film but not this) it was still greatly filmed and the screen was filled with magnificent images; I certainly enjoyed looked at how those people lived their lives, as the countries visited were mainly places I knew nothing about when it comes to day to day activities there. If you love Koyaanisqatsi you should give this a shot if you've never checked it out before.

As it's me I have to close this out by noting my amusement at Criterion releasing a movie on Blu-ray that opens with the Cannon logo. While of course I know that in the late 80's Golan and Globus tried to be “more legitimate” by releasing other sorts of movies (such as adaptations of fairy tales for the family and Godard's apparently uber-strange version of King Lear) instead of their typical B movie fare of mainly action films involving the likes of Chuck Norris, Charles Bronson or Michael Dudikoff, it is still funny that Criterion put out a film from them. By the way, what strange bedfellows with this movie being executively produced by Golan and Globus and being presented by both George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.