Koyaanisqatsi: a dream-like state

Production still: Anonymous

By Criss Roden

Koyaanisqatsi has to be one of the greatest pieces of cinema ever. Having the opportunity to see the score played live was something I never thought I would get the chance to do, but on Saturday night I found myself in the 3000 seat auditorium of the Edinburgh Playhouse. As the first bass synth note rings out (played by Philip Glass himself) we find ourselves in a cave, staring at the wordless pigment images of an ancient culture. The prayer-like chant of ‘Koyaanisquatsi’ bores into my chest and I’m floating over red-stone and vast deserts, a mountain with a gaping mouth that seems to scream. Speeding over lakes, seas and valleys, like the best dreams you ever had, I pause over slow motion close-ups of heaving waves and sped-up static seascapes.

Amazing breath control is displayed by the female vocalist, with a repeated synth and vocal stab, her voice sounds synthetic, faultless, soulless, yet joyful. Cars move forward like waves with faceless people inside. We see more cars lined up outside warehouses like crayons, and charcoal tanks that sketch the lines of war. We ride on the wing of a desert fighter-plane, radio chatter in the background. Then we move into a concrete nightmare of similar magnitude to the mountains; bombed houses, and flattened perspective, such beauty and despair as buildings fall like curtains. Better explosions than any Jerry Bruckheimer film! There’s a shot of the corner of the building, the sky appears split, moving against itself in counterpoint.

There’s a shot of the crowd of people, who sound like static interference or water, and their headless bodies trudge. ‘Grand Illusion’ says the neon sign; ‘Machine does not accept change’ says the ticket gate. And we're treated to moving studies of people attempting to be still with industry buzzing around them. The purple haze of the city turns to halogen green. Crucifix roads and LED street lamps; I feel like a neon particle, or a character in Tron. The music changes to 6:8 and suggests the curves of the road we see from a birds eye view.

Is industry bringing us closer to our dream-state? Is it a plastic dream-state, a new religion with television as a deity?

The map looks like a hooded thief, or a microchip, we are all part of the machine. The man smokes with a profile like an ape.

Still the Hopi plainchant of ‘Koyaanisqatsi’ (crazy life) continues, now with thicker timbre, as more singers join the bass backbone. We see a rocket launch, firing through a blue sky, but going nowhere until it starts to fall. Merely becoming clearer to us, but seeming to burn forever, the fuselage falls. The metal giant has made its terminal exhalation. We are back in the mystical cave.

I stand and applaud.

The Edinburgh International Festival runs from 12 August – 4 September. Browse and book online at eif.co.uk or call 0131 473 2000.

The Qatsi Trilogy: Human Condition on the Big Screen

Production still: 1983 IRE

By Mateusz Jazdzewski

Philip Glass is undoubtedly one of the biggest contemporary names at this year’s Festival. His success comes from his ability to fuse classical music with mass culture. He is far from a pop idol, but film buffs and regular cinema-goers appreciate his work in films like Elena, The Hours or The Illusionist. However, none of these films has brought him as much fame as his collaboration with Godfrey Reggio on Koyaanisqatsi, an intellectual and visually attractive critique of contemporary world order. Having followed the success of the first film he then composed the score for the rest of the trilogy, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi. During screenings of the trilogy, complete with live music from the Philip Glass Ensemble at the Edinburgh International Festival, we will find out if the films still influence the audience to the extent they did on their release.

As a 21-year-old today, I cannot imagine a film having as much impact as Koyaanisqatsi had on young people in 1982. What was so striking about the film that led to it gaining cult status? Perhaps it was the new aesthetics it presented that shocked the audience - Koyaanisqatsi does not have any plot, instead the audience watch seemingly chaotic sequences presenting heaven, coastlines and forests. They are confronted with images of contemporary cities, full of rushing people and modern architecture. The films offer their own disturbing vision of the world, which declines in parallel with technological development.

This idea was further explored in Powaqqatsi. Here, the impact of Western civilisation over Africa and Asia is questioned. Images of people harvesting and carrying food are contrasted with images of poverty and diseases. Naqoyqatsi, the most recent work released in 2002, is the sad conclusion drawn by Reggio and Glass on the fate of our planet. After destroying natural resources and gathering in massive cities, self-destruction seems the only outcome for humanity. The film depicts our admiration for and the media’s obsession with war, technology, the arms race and tragedy.

The films would not have the same visual impact if it was not for Glass’ illustrative and arresting score, and the Qatsi Trilogy still inspires filmmakers today. Festival audiences will benefit from watching the trilogy on the big screen and listening to the score performed live by Glass and his orchestra. Whether the trilogy will make the same impression as it did on its release is hard to measure, these films have put a significant stamp on the history of cinema.

Koyaanisqatsi
Saturday 13 August, 8.30pm, The Edinburgh Playhouse
www.eif.co.uk/qatsi1

Powaqqatsi
Sunday 14 August, 8.30pm, The Edinburgh Playhouse
www.eif.co.uk/qatsi2

Naqoyqatsi
Monday 15 August, 8.30pm, The Edinburgh Playhouse
www.eif.co.uk/qatsi3

The Edinburgh International Festival runs from 12 August – 4 September.

Browse the programme and book online at www.eif.co.uk or call 0131 473 2000.

This article has also been published on stv.tv which features reviews, previews and features from this year’s Festival.