Ashley Mbualungu

November 6, 2010

English 105

Professor Timmons

Koyaanisqatsi, the 1983 film directed by Godfrey Reggio, was able to force me out of my ordinary viewing habits differently than any other film that is generally narrated. The images complimented with sound effects are so captivating that it is meant to tell a story that you follow visually. The film forced me to look at the beauty of it which I would not do for a narrated film. The puffy blue clouds acted as water and the scene of the sand dooms contrasted with light and dark, but it all looked like beautiful paintings to me. This film incorporated music that sped up with double timed scenes which to me implies emphasis, for instance, the scene with the cars that appear to be going hundreds of miles per hour is being challenged to music that seems to be going at the exact same speed of the cars. The sights similar to the cars, where the music speeds up as well as the images, were able to help me focus on the images forcing me to make a story of it.

This film had ways of requiring me to view it differently than narrated films. The picture motion and bright and colorful images presented in Koyaanisqatsi told a touching story of how people today have become technology. The scenes of the beautiful manmade lake, hard industrial life, and transitions from appealing sceneries to things like big ugly trucks tell us that we have been habituated with technology over nature yet we do not even notice it anymore. Several times the film included objects that were all the same, for example the twinkies scene. In the twinkies scene we are shown over and over again the work and packaging that is put into them indicating that we live in an environment where everything is the same, copies of copies. It is fascinating to me that a film without narration can be so emotive through its captivating images and I find these to be some of the ways this film required me to view it differently than most films.

                Koyaanisqatsi’s way of telling us that we are technology through sound effects, music, and striking scenes can be discomforting in a way mainly because I am used to narration and dialogue. I feel like the scene of the atomic bomb went into overtime and though I would watch the film again I would most likely fast forward the scene. I would recommend this film for its art and beauty and though it may be discomforting it still tells a story.