Koyaanisqatsi
Godfrey Reggio | 1982 | United States | 82’
About the film
Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance is a kaleidoscopic stream of time-lapse imagery and sound, propelled by the hypnotic score of Philip Glass and devoid of dialogue. The film explores how modern American life has ruptured the connection between humanity, nature and technology in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Its mesmerising visuals are deceptively beautiful: traffic flowing like rivers, clouds skimming over glass towers, people swarming like ants, plumes rising from factories, dust enveloping the ruins of Pruitt–Igoe. Socially incisive and disturbingly prescient, Koyaanisqatsi remains, in the words of Archined’s editors, essential viewing.
