koyaanisqasti

When I first started watching the film I thought it was kind of boring and it took me a bit to get into it. The movie was vary different from any other I had seen. Once it got to the cloud sequence though I was hooked by the imagery and everything sort of came together. I wound up really liking the film and when they were showing the deserted low income housing it made me think of the first Candyman movie. Which I then had to go watch. Surprisingly I think it was same buildings, which I thought was rather cool. So overall I did actually enjoy the movie and I thought the cinematography was wonderful.

David

Koyaanisqatsi

I had mixed feelings about this film. I have some friends who are quite into this series of films, but I'm not sure if it really does anything for me. For one, I don't really like Philip Glass. His minimalist composing sounds a bit cheesy and not-so-atmospheric to me. I'd rather listen to Burzum or Ildjarn, or other minimalist ambient sans the cheesy effects....

Second, the video itself sort of put me to sleep. During the first viewing session I didn't get it---meaning there seemed to be no point to this collection of video for me. What helped cast light on the story being told was the viewing of chapters on the second day. That little bit of word-based narration helped me to grasp the story much better. Either that, or the images shown during the second day were much more compelling---meaning much more disturbing.

To conclude, I recognize the significance of these series of movies; in fact, I can see their influence in video art all around me. The basic ideas expressed herein are quite interesting---a story told completely in images.

-Bryce VanHoosen-

Koyaanisqasti

This film is definitely one that you cannot be tired when watching.  Keeping focus was pretty difficult, especially in the beginning. The music is deep and dark which goes very appropriately with the film I thought.  I really enjoyed the aerial landscape shots. It just started getting very repetitive. I felt that the nature scenes were metaphorically used as comparison to humans and the way we naturally go about things/life. Once the film started getting into the industrial shots and the nuclear bomb, I realized I was still paying attention and wanted to know what else was going to be shown. Once people and "life" started presenting itself I found myself more intrigued. Although the film had a definite depression over it with the music and the scenes each dragging on and on,  I enjoyed the film, but wouldn't be able to watch it again I think. Maybe on a really big t.v.. 

-Sam

Koyannisqasti

The Koyannisquatsi video was very interesting, it provoked thought and discussion. Although a lot of that discussion was negative, the video still inspired people to look at things differently. The beginning of the video was a little slow, but in any film you have to build a background and story line. As they started to add more objects to the screen, the storyline became fleshed out.

The part that I liked the most were the city scenes with all of the cars flashing by. The first thing that I thought of was it looks like a blood stream and all the little cars are blood vessels. The city was being shown as a living thing; the lines that the traffic make through the dark screen were pulsating and always moving. I believe that this movie was not only about showing people the destruction that they have caused, but also the beauty that they are missing as they put their heads down and follow their daily routine.
-Racheal Johnson-

Koyaanisqatsi

Well, I didn't hate it...but it was painful. The movie had the worst start to a film, yes nature is beautiful, unfortunately watching nature scenes for long periods of time is boring. Like many other people in the class I believe that the film got better as it introduced people. But even that change wore off as the film continued for way too long. The film seemed to portray the human race as a disease of the earth and was slightly depressing. The whole time watching the film I was waiting for the movie to start, because the whole film was like the introduction to another movie, the part where it shows random shots of city-scapes and is narrated before the title is shown. To me Koyaanisqatsi was the worst film I have seen in this class so far. Why was this film important to the art world?

Derek Klayum

Koyaanisqasti

This film is very intriguing how it was made in the 197os but foreshadowed to the life we live today, though today it is at a much larger scale. The growth of technology and the industrialization of the world that we live in has had drastic impacts in our environment. Irreversible damage had occurred because the growth of the world and industrialization there are very few scenic and untouched places in the world. Koyaanizqasti did a great job at getting there messages across without the use of words; this allows viewers to take from the film what they wish to, they come up with their own conclusions which shows that the film doesn't push reasoning or information upon the viewer. Do you believe that the creators of the film didn't push information on the viewers and left them to interpret the film on their own?

Koyaanisqatsi all around us

I didn't know what Koyaanisqatsi was let alone it was a time lapsed movie. When I heard that we were going to watch this I thought it was going to be a documentary on a person who is named this. How little do I know?!?! On top of that, I didn't realize how much Godfrey Reggio, the man who directed all of this, would show how normal life goes in just little over an hour.
I watched the video and I was almost hypnotized by the different sights, and with the sounds that went along with it to intensify the situation, it was all a total mind museum. While watching it, I also enjoyed the sights of San Francisco because I was just there recently. To recognize it on film almost felt like a home movie. At the same time, I realized, of course, I wasn't the only one who ever been there, I just had a different experience than what was shown.
I put up the picture of the ladies on the Vegas strip because it was my favorite part. They were so uncomfortable when they were video taped for longer than a minute. I thought that was very humorous. How would you react if that would happen to you?
Sophia Stalliviere

Koyaanisqatsi

I think this movie is representative of why I'm not a big 'art' person. It's just too much for me. Honestly the first day of this film was like hell. I agree with one of the student's comments in class, watching all the nature stuff was incredibly boring, but once we got to see people, it got a bit more interesting to watch. Not by much though. I guess I feel like it's waaaay too long. if this movie were condensed to like 10 minutes I still would have gotten the point (i think the point is relevant simply in the name, you don't even have to think hard). I really don't have a lot to say about the film besides that I dislike it with a passion. 

So, my question is, how could this film be changed to appeal to a larger audience? Or perhaps more importantly, should it be changed at all?

Mayra

Koyaanisqasti

I didn't hate this film although some parts were boring. Koyaanisqasti, should be ten times better while drinking two or three glasses of wine while viewing it in a widescreen movie theater. The Kayaanisqasti song may allow me to have nightmares. Koyaanisqasti allows the viewer to realize that although technology has changed, we are people, not super-humans. There's millions of bodies in the world and each of us are just a speck in the world no matter how important we think we are. I think the third of the trilogy should be interesting to watch since newer technology is used, (maybe I'll be more motivated for extra credit :) Here is cover of the film. You can see how it reflects new technology. Can you think of any other examples of movie posters that reflect new technology? It shouldn't be too hard to find one. The film "ET" comes to mind right away. "ET phone home"

Sanjana Pahalad

Another Koyaanisqatsi inspired music video

Inspired by Koyaanisqasti-The Strokes "Hard to Explain"