Key Words, MAR Reading Group 2020-2021

Page 178

Reading Day 6

Godfrey Reggio, Koyaanisqatsi, 90' #review

Review by ES

Koyaanisqatsi - Translation from Hopi: ‘A crazy life; a life in turmoil; a life out of balance; a life disintegrated; a state of life that calls another way of living.’

Where am I? I am seduced by this question. The camera glides over rock faces with delicacy and grace, as if stroking skin. We flick to and from different mountain ranges, gazing over desolate land from above, empty of human existence. Where are we? Mountains are shadowed by other mountains but there are no humans, there is no trace. We see shapes in these mountains. They resemble skyscrapers. In this dystopian place, they are their own uninhabited cities. I am watching, anticipating as the music builds. No words are spoken, as words would not be able to describe this scene, or explain its emotion. Language can no longer describe the world we live in. Smoke is building, blown about, and inhabits the emptiness. Dust particles become crowds with one another, creating shapes in empty spaces, becoming clouds.

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