Introduction
I found it hard to start writing about this. Therefore, I can only imagine how hard it would be to start filming it, editing it, and scoring it. The angle must have been particular and precise; otherwise, everyone would get lost in translation from the filmmakers to the viewers. Or was it? Experimental filmmaking explores, challenges, discovers, and even alters non-narrative forms of expression. The Qatsi trilogy aims at carefully showcasing what you already know without being pedantic.
The purpose of this article is not to fully lay it out for you but to pique your interest, maybe get you to watch it, and then urge you to challenge my point of view or even the filmmakers’ point of view regarding its meaning (a word that you will encounter a lot). But get you to know it nonetheless. All three titles are in Hopi language; I will only disclose that ‘Qatsi’ means ‘life’. Now, you have two options: If you watch each documentary and wait until the end to see what each title means, you will look back, and only retrospectively will you make the associations with what you saw, comparing it to your interpretations. If you find out beforehand, you will let the filmmakers do the interpretation for you without having the chance to decide first. It is entirely up to you, though.
As for the documentaries themselves, Godfrey Reggio is the man behind their creation. Philip Glass has composed the music and, among others, Godfrey Reggio, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Soderbergh are behind the trilogy’s production. Though tempting, the numerous editing techniques and the ‘how montage creates meaning’ analysis have been left out as to be fully developed, I would have to write a doctoral thesis. The same applies to Philip Glass’ staggering music. As a viewer, what’s essential is the trilogy’s understanding through these techniques without having to understand the techniques themselves.
The article tips off but is spoilers-free, so enjoy reading!
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
From civilisations that disappeared into thin air to the present day, Koyaanisqatsi took 6 years to get made. Even though the film’s final cut was ready earlier, something quite rare happened. Philip Glass’s music, which took over three years to be composed, redefined its structure, and the film was cut again to the music. Throughout the film’s production, Reggio had next to him one of the best advisors on society and technology, Langdon Winner. Should you get the time, look him up and pick any of his books from either the past or the present; you will not regret it (see link below).
Watch Koyaanisqatsi, ponder, and ask yourselves, what does your life look like? What would happen if your soul had an out-of-body experience, did a space/time travel and came back? What would you think of your life then? What do you think of your life now? Koyaanisqatsi, as an omniscient narrator/voyeur, walks amongst us, observing our mechanised humanity and our detachment from nature, our divorce from reality, and the creation of a new, atrocious one that spirals out of control. Accessing the way we work, eat, entertain ourselves, and live stitches together an ambient, dystopian present. Do you think we look or behave like ants? Koyaanisqatsi sees a crumbling life in depersonalised people and cries out for change.
Godfrey Reggio himself, in an interview, said that it is up to the viewers to take for themselves what Koyanisqaatsi means. It can be an environmental film, an ode to technology, a piece of shit, or just something that moves you deeply.
Powaqqatsi (1988)
Right off the bat, the man is a labour tool… Then, labour and tradition; ways of working and living life in the developing countries, unknown to the already ‘developed’ parts of the world. Travelling across the globe, Reggio and Glass give Powaqqatsi a ‘Third World’ multicultural flavour. They delve into the lives of the everyday people who walk on exotic parts of this Earth, where mankind is not considered a foul species and has the ‘anti-Midas’ touch, destroying everything on its path. But, as it was meant to be, a mankind that is a part of nature and the Universe.
Powaqqatsi is the more optimistic, transnational, but also folklore view of the world towards the end of the 20th century. Less radical than its predecessor, it educates and juxtaposes the ‘Third World’ with the United States, as seen in Koyaanisqatsi, presenting our world not only in a less unflattering light but as hope itself. But that’s the first half… The Westernisation and Internationalisation march through the second half, stepping all over everything mentioned above. Poverty, money, fame, dependence on materialism and pettiness manifest, indicating a world within a world, not elucidating which one is ‘The Matrix’.
Philip Glass, who accompanied this time Reggio while scouting for locations, started scoring it during the preproduction stage, and the results gave the viewer heart palpitations. The montage follows Glass’ rhythms and is, once more, astounding. Religion as part of our nature, tradition, culture, customs, wealth and deprivation all blend into an unforgettable cinematic experience for every man, woman, and non-binary person born on this planet.
Naqoyqatsi (2002)
Babel! Is this what we have ended up being? The 20th century is now over, leading up to the millennium; the technology’s cataclysmic inundation, and we, the human species, fail to adapt to the ‘modern’ world – or merely fail to grasp what society is. Plato mentioned that man created society due to his inability to cope on his own any more. (Did that ever work?) Naqoyqatsi, during its first part, ostensibly focuses on the exponential technological advancements of the 21st century, the digitalisation of money, and the idolisation of athletes and world ‘leaders’.
Naqoyqatsi digitised itself and relied on ‘cheap’ effects to create meaning, became a peculiar concoction that divided the audiences, caused mixed reviews, and accused the last part of the trilogy of pseudo-intellectuality. The blame was passed to Reggio, not Jon Kane’s editing or Glass’ music. It was accused of not having much to offer, of not adding to the equation, of repeating, not very creatively, what has already been said and done before. Money, entertainment, art, pleasure (of many forms), family values, religion, science, technology, and political views will always be inseparable parts of our lives. How they are depicted is what makes the difference. Naqoyqatsi is a barrage of innumerable, distorted – hence the 16:9 instead of 4:3 ratio – and edited (subliminal) information we receive daily just by clicking the remote’s ON button. Then, that inseparable becomes indistinguishable. And that becomes unprocessable. And that wreaks havoc in our minds and consequently us, our families, our societies, and our world. It begets violence.
Naqoyqatsi offers a kaleidoscopic view of the world as we know it – the oxymoronic scheme of technology advancing us while at the same time setting us back. The distorted sense of achievement and the chaotic structure of the modern world. The justification of violence/war, in every shape and form, is embraced and considered as a matter of course, and we open our doors to it and welcome it into our lives. Cyber realities distance us from nature, athletes become brands’ products, and technology creates ‘wants’ to replace our ‘needs’. It makes me want to read again “Brave New World”.
Conclusion
The Qatsi trilogy is a cinematic statement about civilisation, technology, nature, and the relationship amongst the three. It is a trilogy left in the shadow cast by blockbusters, forgotten in time, and buried in oblivion. Does it matter that MGM is behind it? Does it matter that Warner Bros is behind The Matrix (1999) and V for Vendetta (2005) that preach on how to excoriate the system? Well, Miramax is also behind The Qatsi Trilogy – go figure! I guess contradiction and irony are in us.
After watching it a couple of times, I’ve had this ‘montage’ of thoughts. I was thinking to myself that I should acknowledge the swamp surrounding me but focus on and be exemplified by the fragrant water lilies standing out. I was also thinking that if I can’t do any good to someone, at least I will do my best not to hurt them. Then, I wondered where I stood in this world and how I could better it before I went.
Watch and listen to the Qatsi narrating, but also appeal to what once was and what now is.
Thank you kindly for reading!
Bibliography / Further Reading
• Frierson, M. (2018). Film & Video Editing Theory: How Editing Creates Meaning. New York and London: Focal Press, Paperback.
• Hatfield, J. (2006) Experimental Film and Video. John Libbey Publishing. Indiana University Press.
• Huxley, A. (2007) Brave New World. Huxley Vintage. London.
• Lane, M. (2007) Plato, The Republic. Penguin Classics
• Rees, A, L. (1999) A History of Experimental Film and Video. British Film Institute
• Reisz K., Millar, G. (2010). The Technique of Film Editing. Oxford: Focal Press
• https://www.langdonwinner.com/
• https://qatsi.org/films/film.php
Thanks for reading!
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