Powaqqatsi

I saw Koyaanisqatsi several times in the late eighties and was truly mesmerized. After that Powaqqatsi was a true disappointment. I didn't understand it, to be honest.

Many years later I bought the DVDs and saw them both recently. I still like Koyaanisqatsi, even if it couldn't meet my great expectations. But now Powaqqatsi emerged as a true beauty!

I find the photography and music far superior to that of Koyaanisqatsi. Real people, instead of land- and cityscapes (even if wonderful). Some of the Powaqqatsi scenes are simply breathtaking. African women in clear red cloth against the desert sand, the introductory (horrible) scene from the Brazilian mine, etc, etc.

I strongly recommend all those that were utterly disappointed 10 years ago to see Powaqqatsi again!

This film is, according to its director, a look at a "global culture"; a visual assessment of the response of the "third world" to the force of globalization and the pressure to modernize. He says there are both good points and bad points to be observed, and hopes to portray the creativity and industriousness with which people around the world respond to the demands of their environments.

I do not see this. I see a moving, and beautiful film, but not about this. I see the destructive effects of the ever-increasing commodification of nature, life, and labor, on people as they are forced to abandon their homes and livelihoods to nationalist projects and capital ventures. I see (to use Karl Polanyi's words) the uprooting of peoples and places, and the destructive forces of market enterprise disguised under tropes of progress and modernity.

Yes. Human beings are creative and industrious, and have dealt with these problems in unique and fascinating ways. But, rather than simply celebrating the Beauty of Human Life, in all it's glory, let this film be a call to recognize this beauty, and recognize its value as intrinsic, as part and parcel to the livelihoods of the people it is embodied within.

This is a superb second film of a once planned trilogy that began with Koyaanisqatsi. While the first had effects that might be likened to video-game razzle-dazzle, and was entertaining in its own right, Powaqqatsi is a celebration of humanity and does not repeat the earlier images. Perhaps some were disappointed by this, but this film stands finely on its own terms. A moving and delightfully photographed tour of the world. I have often wondered what became of the third leg of these efforts.

Powaqqatsi may not be the fast passed time lapse world of Koyaanisqatsi and there is nothing wrong with that. This movie is a counter point to Koyaanisqatsi. Reggios's plan was for a three part series I believe the new movie is almost done. This is not North America. Just think of the time envoled in this shoot, the locations, the stunning cinematograghy. This is the real world. A world where many people still live with out electricity, still hold onto the past, work on the land or sea, work hard for very little. This is movie of world culture. Anyway one who puts this movie down is truly living in a bubble. This is not a movie that gets backing money easily this is a movie of sweat and toil. I commend the filmmaker for taking a risk and creating a visual feast of the developing world that we are destroying.

Don't worry: no spoilers here. I felt the need to rebut several of the negative reviews I have read about this film ( both here and, most notably, from critics Maltin and Ebert). This film follows a totally different concept from "Koyaanisqatsi," which concentrated on largely inanimate structures in the continental U.S. This is a film about people and lifestyles of the developing world, and for that I believe Reggio chose wisely not to utilize many specialty visual techniques (i.e. time-lapse and high-speed photography), and settle for a more low-key approach. Though the film cannot match the visceral gee-whiz impact the original 1983 audience must have felt with all the revolutionary visual stylistics of "Koyaanisqatsi," "Powaqqatsi" has greater thematic depth. Essentially, "Koyaanisqatsi" was best at impressing the audience, and this film is better at making the audience think. To tackle such a wide-ranging subject as globalization is a tricky task, yet I believe this film to be the best cinematic portrayal I have seen of the effects of modernity upon the 75% of the world that still lives much of its life the same way it did hundreds of years ago.

All of the shots of people working, carrying baskets on their heads, etc. show the immense effort required in the third world to carry on an industrial revolution one hundred years behind the West, and in a much shorter span of time. Essentially, the societies in the Periphery are being forced to play catch-up. The imagery of the fallen laborer being carried up a hill (the opening shots of the film which are later referenced at the end) represents the immense hard work and sacrifice necessary to build a modern society - an idea lost upon many in the First World, who protest the working conditions of societies on the Periphery, yet do not realize that their own Western industrial revolutions faced the exact same hazards, tribulations, and hardships one hundred years ago - yet did eventually manage to emerge successfully. Like "Koyaanisqatsi," "Powaqqatsi" is a film one can view multiple times and absorb new meanings upon each viewing.

The structure of the film is the same as that of "Koyaanisqatsi", which I believe is the most important consistency between this film and the first in Reggio's trilogy. Both films are divided into three distinct sections: primitive/archaic life, early industrial life, and finally full-fledged modern existence (lifestyle, or "-qatsi", being the connecting thread within and between the films). In addition, Philip Glass score is a superb accompaniment to the visual images. Otherwise, the films are not at all alike, and should not be unduly compared to one another. Both films show their American audience something they have not seen before: in "Koyaanisqatsi" it is simply themselves from a very different angle, and in "Powaqqatsi" it is the rest of the world.