Goddamn. Do you know where that was originally posted? It makes me want to fight someone.
It was originally off of TumblrâŚ
Music from the Koyaanisqatsi trilogy has already been used for so many similar montages, this just feels like a âme-tooâ thatâs way too late.
One of my most amazing movie-watching experiences was getting to see Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation, the second in the trilogy, with the soundtrack performed live by Philip Glass conducting the Philip Glass Ensemble.
Victorville is all kinds of crazy.
Emma Jeanâs burgers, though
Holy motherfucking bullshit, someone please tell me that this is a faked restaurant receipt. Because if it is real, someone needs to be launched by trebuchet over Drumpfâs Mexican wall.
This is kind of an insult to Reggio, isnât it? Even if he himself used stock footage (and Iâm sure he did,) he created a masterpiece that England is trivializing.
Only stopped at a park for our dog to take a break on the way to L.V. I have a distinct feeling that this area is a key Trump demographic (based upon all the news from Victorville that makes the L.A. feed).
Iâm donât think itâs an insult. But it does suggest that its visual language is now so debased that the original may be deprived of meaning to modern audiences. This would be a tribute to its impact, a suggestion that it spawned a cinematic language now so pervasive that it can be used to any purpose. But also itâs a suggestion that Reggioâs work hasnât aged well, because its power was aesthetic and hahah really? Come on, itâs just a funny video.
Yes, a lot of Koyaanisqatsi was assembled from existing archival footage. The copyright mess this created was one of the reasons it took so long to release the DVD versions.
I contributed to the fund that Reggio established, a little after the year 2000, to get to get all the rights holders to âplease just allow the digital versions to be releasedâ.
/ Youâre welcome. And I got a signed copy of the disc.
// Rob et al, if you ever have a chance to see it performed live by Glassâs Ensemble, do go.
Iâd have to see the whole movie over again (and I donât think I currently have a copy, and nobody is streaming it?), but it hasnât lost its power for me.
OTOH, thatâs the semblance of feeling a memory of power when watching the above non-clip and thinking âyeah, but in the original when this goes on for 10 minutes itâs so much betterâ. Or maybe because I first saw it on a big screen, as well?
Who knows.
I donât think it was meant as an insult either. I think it was just meant as a silly tribute or a âlook I can do something similarâ⌠But unfortunately I do fear that this attempt didnât capture any of the genius of the original.
The power of Koyaanisqatsi lies not in the use of sped-up of slowed down stock footage in itself. Those were only some of the tools used. Just like the synchronisation between the music and video or the repetitiveness of sounds and images or the fact that yes, some of the shots kept going on and on and on.
The real genius was the original way of storytelling of the entire movie. The power to conceive ideas and emotions in the heads of the audience.
Itâs more of an unintentional homage to Ron Fricke who was the deft hand that shot the film. A huge portion of that stock footage wouldnât exist if not for his early development and use of time-lapse, computer-controlled camera work which is now such a film staple. Probably the most underrated DP in the industry.
First, Koyaanisqatsi. Next, Koyaanistocksi. Then⌠Koyaaniwoodstocksi?
Personally, I prefer the films Ron Fricke helmed himself, Chronos and Baraka. I enjoy Koyaanisqatsi, but the Glass score can get wearying and conveying the message that life is out of balance while aestheticizing everything using the latest technology strikes me as somewhat dubious.
I saw Baraka in a theater and while it was nice, I was left with just that impression - it was nice, but not as significant as Koyaanisqatsi.
