By Ken Shung.
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
The film is the first in the Qatsi trilogy of films: it is followed by Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi. The trilogy depicts different aspects of the relationship between humans, nature, and technology.
Koyaanisqatsi is also a visual concert of images set to the haunting music of Phillip Glass The film consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse photography of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. Godfrey Reggio made an extensive use of them to comparise different types of physical motion. This technique of comparison exists throughout the film, and through it we learn more about the world around us. The film progresses from purely natural environments to nature as affected by man, and finally to man's own manmade environment, devoid of nature yet still following the patterns of natural flow as depicted in the beginning of the film, yet in chaos and disarray.
The power of Reggio's imagery is a function not so much of his subject matter, but of the way in which the imagery is presented. The Glass accompaniment emphasizes the grace of movement, which have the impact of a miracolous dance.
The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and music. In the Hopi language, the word Koyaanisqatsi means 'crazy life, life in turmoil, life out of balance, life disintegrating, a state of life that calls for another way of living', and the film implies that modern humanity is living in such a way.
Reggio's montage is as fully slow motion as his individual images. We foreswear normal consumption patterns and meditate on individual human beings. Reggio's combination of slow motion and extended shots allows for a contemplation of the variety and beauty of individual, laboring human being. Beyond the headlines and every day crises of international events, a deeper shift in human affairs has occurred: Humanity no longer exists in the natural world, we are no longer connected to it!
You can buy Koyaanisqatsi - Life Out of Balance.
Koyaanisqatsi is also a visual concert of images set to the haunting music of Phillip Glass The film consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse photography of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. Godfrey Reggio made an extensive use of them to comparise different types of physical motion. This technique of comparison exists throughout the film, and through it we learn more about the world around us. The film progresses from purely natural environments to nature as affected by man, and finally to man's own manmade environment, devoid of nature yet still following the patterns of natural flow as depicted in the beginning of the film, yet in chaos and disarray.
The power of Reggio's imagery is a function not so much of his subject matter, but of the way in which the imagery is presented. The Glass accompaniment emphasizes the grace of movement, which have the impact of a miracolous dance.
The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and music. In the Hopi language, the word Koyaanisqatsi means 'crazy life, life in turmoil, life out of balance, life disintegrating, a state of life that calls for another way of living', and the film implies that modern humanity is living in such a way.
Reggio's montage is as fully slow motion as his individual images. We foreswear normal consumption patterns and meditate on individual human beings. Reggio's combination of slow motion and extended shots allows for a contemplation of the variety and beauty of individual, laboring human being. Beyond the headlines and every day crises of international events, a deeper shift in human affairs has occurred: Humanity no longer exists in the natural world, we are no longer connected to it!
You can buy Koyaanisqatsi - Life Out of Balance.
Oseam (2003)
Two orphans, Gamie, a young blind girl and her little brother Gil-sun, are taken in by a Buddhist monk. While the shy little girl finds her at ease at the temple, the enthusiastic and dynamic little Gil-sun soon starts to disturb this quiet place. After his sister told him their mother had visited her in a dream, the little boy tries to understand why his mom did not come to see him too. In order to meet her again, he decides to follow the monk for a very long initiatic trip.
Oseam is based on a novel by Korean author Jung Chae-bong, who has described it as being a a compassionate philosophical and poetic fable for adults.
Baek-yeob Seong saturated the frames with brilliant colors and imagery that are alternately haunting and inspiring. This film possess a deliberately old fashioned look, comprising of paintings that form a lush backdrop to the moving characters.
It would have reeked of precociousness and suffered far more of emotional manipulation than it already does.
Oseam is based on a novel by Korean author Jung Chae-bong, who has described it as being a a compassionate philosophical and poetic fable for adults.
Baek-yeob Seong saturated the frames with brilliant colors and imagery that are alternately haunting and inspiring. This film possess a deliberately old fashioned look, comprising of paintings that form a lush backdrop to the moving characters.
It would have reeked of precociousness and suffered far more of emotional manipulation than it already does.
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