preview

Essay about Koyaanisqatsi

Best Essays

Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi, sometimes titled Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, was directed by American director Godfrey Reggio. The film deals with the relationship between humans and nature entirely through the contrast between the music and the visuals. The tone of each scene relies purely on composer Philip Glass' score to aid what's being shown on screen and provide meaning to what's taking place.
Because there are no conventional story ideas or dialogue, the film takes its message from the tone set by the music and the visuals. Glass uses key, tempo, and instrumentation to great effect, using instruments to mimic everyday city things like car horns and using tonality to subtly change how the viewer is interpreting the …show more content…

The organ motif then changes to an arpeggiated D minor chord and proceeds to play a descending D minor, C major, Bb Major, A major progression. As the sequence continues, a male choir sings the word, “Koyannisqatsi”.
Knowing that the title of the film loosely translates to “Life Out of Balance” adds some hidden depth the cave paintings and music. Both the unsettling music and primitive, albeit thoughtprovoking, images create an apocalyptic uncertainty. Both the sound and visuals predict something disastrous is going to happen. The music with its warning church music and the visuals there
Although no dialogue is spoken in the entire film, the music says, literally, that life is out of balance, and the cave paintings start the film's narrative by suggesting this may happen if something doesn't change.
Eventually the cave paintings are ignited and debris explodes towards the camera, supporting my earlier theory that something disastrous has been predicted.
The flames fade away revealing, not a cave wall, but the base of a rocket taking off. The music remains unchanged, making its message even more mighty. The absence of foley sounds for the rocket and flames only seems to enforce the power of the music.
Flight
In the “flight” sequence, the camera glides over vast open spaces of undisturbed land. The music
seems

Get Access