BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

zolaaar Great film if you just want to let loose your mind and abandon all other thoughts. As expected, the wealth of the images to a wonderful score is nothing less than fantastic, this time closer to people's faces while they're working their asses off, struggling with dirt, dust and garbage or just staring right into the camera, often a little uncertain, sometimes with proudness, but never with pride and always quite affecting. Alle these worn out, contemplative Third World faces we see in close-up or in half distance show the mortality and vigour, the pettiness and dignity of mankind at the same time - that's the underlying beauty of this overwhelmingly ugly world. There's one particular image that I've kept till today: in a reoccurring scene taking place somewhere in the Middle East, Reggio focuses his lenses at a little girl in tears and dust clouds steering a racing horse cart over a bumpy road always in danger to fall over while, which seems to be, her father lies next to her on the box, unable to move and seemingly wasted. She is obviously in pain and desperation and yet masterfully manages her difficult situation (to drive her drunken father home?), probably not for the first time. Quite powerful.

Tim Kidner I'm not trying to undersell Powaqqatsi (meaning 'parasite' in the Hopi language) but to emphasise the quality of the steady stream of images that unfold on us - and their subject matter.Often of people doing things in third world countries and often in very slo-mo, always very colourful and beautifully and perfectly composed, this is a feast for the eyes - and the ears. Equally good is Philip Glass' excellent, haunting and eclectic score, that obviously wasn't just tacked on afterwards.The film's intention is to highlight the way man has and is encroaching on nature - hence the title and its translation. Executive produced by mega directors of the period, Francis Ford Copolla and George Lucas, you can see that this was meant to hit big and hard. It could be argued, however, that the images don't go far enough - a certificate U means that the film is universally pretty and inoffensive, but what man has done to this planet isn't and a bolder approach would hit home harder and make its message clearer.I still prefer Koyaanisqatsi (PC's spell-checker going mental!) to this as that veers more to slightly more exciting imagery.

vlevensonnd-1 I was completely unfamiliar with this when I came across it in a second hand store. It looked like something I'd maybe like. I found that to be an extreme understatement. I was glued. I was mesmerized. I was completely taken by this most beautiful piece of work, and piece of art.I so loved watching the manner and methods in which the people in the 3rd world countries performed their jobs and daily tasks. Though one can detect the harshness and agony associated with some people's tasks, there were numerous others where it looked poetic, majestic, and noble. Yes, noble. When contrasted with the scenes of modern society, the city looks utterly ugly, incorrigible, stark, cold, and dead.Are we really at an advantage living in a modern and wealthy civilization? Is not the sweat of the brow still blessed by God if it's done for His glory? Watch this beautiful, superb, disturbing, poetic work of art. See what you yourself glean from it.

Jay Ducharme Koyaanisqatsi is one of my all-time favorite films. I eagerly awaited the release of Powaqqatsi. I ended up somewhat disappointed, though. Philip Glass' musical score is brilliant and powerful. Many of the images in the film (for example, the boy driving his pony cart through a traffic jam) are vivid and memorable. But unlike Reggio's first film, Powaqqatsi doesn't all come together as well. Koyaanisqatsi was structured like a visual thesis, with a premise and a systematic development of the premise to the powerful conclusion (technology is destroying humanity). There's no such story arc in Powaqqatsi. I felt drained at the end, but I also felt confused. I wasn't sure what to think about the visual overload I had just experienced. Perhaps that was Reggio's intent, to leave the audience to fill in the blanks. But I really wanted the scenes to add up to something, as they did in Koyaanisqatsi. Nevertheless, the movie is well worth viewing for its dazzling visuals alone, and its brilliant soundtrack (possibly the best work Glass has ever done).