I bought Koyaanisqatsi as a reward for getting a part-time job in London when I was a student there. The job only lasted one weekend because it was so horrible, but I still have the DVD.
My mind periodically comes back to it, almost without me realising it. I'd never think to name it as a favourite film, but in a way it is. I was astounded by it, it's stuck with me, and I still enjoy it whenever I watch it again.
I don't know what brought it up this morning, but there we go. Thinking about it now, I imagine the film would almost look like a period piece, or, rather, it captures the final days of an extravagant, more-more-more culture; the culture whose acts we are desperately now trying to undo.
The film was released in 1982, and its sequel Powaqqatsi in 1988. Naqoyqatsi, the third part, was released in 2002. Koyaanisqatsi could be seen as marking the transition between the old culture and a new one, one of the "green agenda" and "eco-consciousness". Certainly the director, Godfrey Reggio, has been at the forefront of progressive politics in America for some time.
It's hard to find actual clips from the films on Youtube, but the two here are. They're wonderful.
Me
- Mark
- I am writing a PhD at the University of Glasgow entitled "The Poetics of Time in Contemporary Literature". My writing has been published in Type Review, Dancehall, Puffin Review and TheState. I review books for Gutter and The List. I am also an editor and reviewer at the Glasgow Review of Books.
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