October 9, 2002.

Note: these two titles are now available either individually or as a box set.

ko.yaa.nis.katsi (from the Hopi language), n. 1. crazy life. 2. life in turmoil. 3. life disintegrating. 4. life out of balance. 5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.

po.waq.qa.tsi  (from the Hopi language, powaq sorcerer + qatsi life) n., an entity, a way of life, that consumes the life forces of other beings in order to further its own life.

Music by Philip Glass.  Written, produced and directed by Godfrey Reggio.  Released by the Institute for Regional Education in 1983 and 1988 (DVDs released by MGM).

Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi has no story.  It has no dialog and no modern special effects.  What it does have is a startling sequence of images accompanied by an eerie music soundtrack.  The movie is more a philosophical study of the lives we have created for ourselves and how we may have inadvertently created our own modern version of Hell, completely disassociating ourselves from where we belong in nature.  With the use of slow motion, time-lapse and accelerated images along with a brilliantly created soundtrack, we see our modern world from a totally different perspective.  And we ask ourselves as these images fly across the screen: "What is this monster we have created?"

The film is even more relevant today than it was in 1983 when computer technology had barely moved out of the corporate world and into our personal lives.  Today, computers are everywhere and seem to have accelerated our lives to the point where the distinction between the accelerated images on the screen and the real-life images of today have become blurred, just like in the movie where the latticework of our cities and the design of today's microchips bear a striking resemblance.

I've lost count of how many times I've seen this movie.  And every time I see it, it serves as a reminder of the kind of life I must avoid at all cost.  None of us must forget who we really are otherwise we become entities without souls.  Even as I travel in the Montreal Metro with the crowds of people surrounding me, I'm reminded of the movie and it's meaning.  It's at this point that I realize I may be the only person in the whole train who is conscious of his own existence, surrounded by an ocean of blank stares and blank minds.  Contrary to a person who is paranoid and believes he is being followed wherever he goes, I feel as if I was standing in the middle of a vast desert with no one else around me.

Powaqqatsi

Powaqqatsi, following the same basic philosophy as Koyaanisqatsi,  is a different view of the world.  More specifically, it's a view of everyday life in developing countries.  And as the title's definition implies, life in these countries sometimes give the impression that one form of life is being wiped out in favour of a totally different form of life.  The movie resembles a silent documentary on life in developing countries.  And although life may be a bit harsh in those lands, it's not impossible to live out a good life without being inundated with technology.  In some cases, it can be seen as form of living which could be better than what we already have.  Are we trading away a good life for a bad one?  Is mankind truly being transformed into a beast which it eventually could no longer control?

Unlike Koyaanisqatsi's clear and concise message and the beautiful combination of sound and images, Powaqqatsi fell short of my expectations.  I was hoping for the same level of quality as in Koyaanisqatsi, but Powaqqatsi is missing many of the elements that made Koyaanisqatsi a great movie.  The music pieces don't always seem to fit in properly with what's currently presented on the screen.  Some of the scenes themselves also seem a bit out of place, making one wonder why they're in the movie in the first place.  For example, why so many static shots of children?  What is the filmmaker trying to say here?  And why use the exact same piece of music over and over again?  This is the same piece that was later used in the movie "The Truman Show".

Koyaanisqatsi had an excellent blend of music and images making the movie an instant classic among the college crowd.  But Powaqqatsi seems to have missed out on all of this.  It's still a nice movie to watch, but you eventually give up trying to find a philosophical link between the various scenes.  The demarcation lines are truly blurred.

Picture

Each movie is presented in their original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1.  Koyaanisqatsi's image is acceptable, but it's pretty far from being considered a reference image.  Colours tend to be a bit flat at times, and the black level resembles a dull grey especially during the night shots.  There is some apparent dust and dirt, but not too much to become a serious problem.  Basically, all these issues can be attributed to the difficult shooting conditions under which the movie was made.  Overall, the images presented to us are still as striking as they ever were since the movie's original theatrical release.

Powaqqatsi definitely has a better image.  The colours are more vibrant and there's less dirt on the prints.  Black level is still a bit of a problem, but as is the case with Koyaanisqatsi, it's mostly a question of shooting conditions.

Sound/Subtitles

Both discs have remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks.

Koyaanisqatsi's soundtrack suffers from age even in its new 5.1 channel form.  On the plus side, the six channels are reasonably spread out and there's decent bass.  On the minus side, the sound quality is highly inconsistent, there's audible tape hiss, breaks in the soundtrack...  This is NOT the newly redone soundtrack that was rumoured to exist.  This thing sound more like the soundtrack that was available on the previous Laserdisc release.

Powaqqatsi is a different story.  Overall, the sound quality is very good, giving us more consistent sound quality, nicer tonal range in the highs, and decent bass.  There's still a bit of tape hiss but it's nowhere near as loud as what could be heard on Koyaanisqatsi's soundtrack.

Both titles have French subtitles mainly used to translate the opening and closing credits.

Features

We have the trailers for the two current movies along with the trailer for the upcoming chapter in the Qatsi trilogy, Naqoyqatsi.  We also have half-hour interviews with Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass who do a decent job of explaining the inspiration behind these movies.

Final verdict

Despite the technical problems, Koyaanisqatsi is still a sight and sound to behold.  Powaqqatsi however falls a bit short of one's expectations.  If you're a die-hard fan of the series, then these two titles are definitely for you.  For everyone else, these qualify as a try-me-first rental.

Picture	Koyaanisqatsi: Powaqqatsi:	Video	1.85:1, anamorphic widescreen
Sound	Koyaanisqatsi: Powaqqatsi:	Audio	Dolby Digital 5.1 (no specific language)
Story	Koyaanisqatsi: Powaqqatsi:	Subtitles	French (for the credits only)
Features		Features	Theatrical trailers Interviews
Value		Final word	A mind trip for the soul.