User reviews

Don't worry: no spoilers here. I felt the need to rebut several of the negative reviews I have read about this film ( both here and, most notably, from critics Maltin and Ebert). This film follows a totally different concept from "Koyaanisqatsi," which concentrated on largely inanimate structures in the continental U.S. This is a film about people and lifestyles of the developing world, and for that I believe Reggio chose wisely not to utilize many specialty visual techniques (i.e. time-lapse and high-speed photography), and settle for a more low-key approach. Though the film cannot match the visceral gee-whiz impact the original 1983 audience must have felt with all the revolutionary visual stylistics of "Koyaanisqatsi," "Powaqqatsi" has greater thematic depth. Essentially, "Koyaanisqatsi" was best at impressing the audience, and this film is better at making the audience think. To tackle such a wide-ranging subject as globalization is a tricky task, yet I believe this film to be the best cinematic portrayal I have seen of the effects of modernity upon the 75% of the world that still lives much of its life the same way it did hundreds of years ago.

All of the shots of people working, carrying baskets on their heads, etc. show the immense effort required in the third world to carry on an industrial revolution one hundred years behind the West, and in a much shorter span of time. Essentially, the societies in the Periphery are being forced to play catch-up. The imagery of the fallen laborer being carried up a hill (the opening shots of the film which are later referenced at the end) represents the immense hard work and sacrifice necessary to build a modern society - an idea lost upon many in the First World, who protest the working conditions of societies on the Periphery, yet do not realize that their own Western industrial revolutions faced the exact same hazards, tribulations, and hardships one hundred years ago - yet did eventually manage to emerge successfully. Like "Koyaanisqatsi," "Powaqqatsi" is a film one can view multiple times and absorb new meanings upon each viewing.

The structure of the film is the same as that of "Koyaanisqatsi", which I believe is the most important consistency between this film and the first in Reggio's trilogy. Both films are divided into three distinct sections: primitive/archaic life, early industrial life, and finally full-fledged modern existence (lifestyle, or "-qatsi", being the connecting thread within and between the films). In addition, Philip Glass score is a superb accompaniment to the visual images. Otherwise, the films are not at all alike, and should not be unduly compared to one another. Both films show their American audience something they have not seen before: in "Koyaanisqatsi" it is simply themselves from a very different angle, and in "Powaqqatsi" it is the rest of the world.

The imaginative slow-motion documentary without any line,sequence, camera just goes through nature , cities and public over third world counties. Everydays routines seems amazing , ordinary motions put in slow are breath-taking.Sense for camera scenes and views and extraordinary shots make this one worth to see. Plus mixed with Philip Glass's composed music - it is relaxing and mild. Also you can find some scenes showing our world going to destructive end and the most moving scene in the end when there is shown that we mostly even can not see pictures like these because this "kind" of world is situated behind a certain curtain, for most of us hard to see through - we live above and look only to our reflections.

Koyannisqatsi wasn't a copy of anything, so why would anyone expect Powaqqatsi to be a copy of it? Fortunately, I saw this film on the big screen without seeing its predecessor, and I was delighted. The movie begins with a shot of an African diamond mine. You see a miner ascending a ladder in slow-motion, carrying a bag of mud on shoulders, accompanied by a heavy, pounding music. The effects and the music work together to highlight the miner's tiredness and strain. Other images follow, most of them from the "third world." In each case the focus is not a thing, but a quality.

Powaqqatsi revolutionized my concept of the world -- Go ahead and laugh! The film shows a vastness and variety and energy in the world that was beyond anything I could have imagined when I went into the theater. Everything is presented for what it is; there's no Western narrator to reassure you and tell you what everything means. There is perhaps no higher praise for a film than saying it changed the way I think, and Powaqqatsi deserves that praise.

According to IMDb.com this film is..."An exploration of the efforts of developing nations and the effect the transition to moderernization has had on them." According to the film itself, the title means (paraphrasing) a life force which consumes other life forces to sustain itself. I saw neither of these in this film and would caution others to beware the advertising. "Powaqqatsi" is a visual feast of scenes of variegated humanity and sweeping cultures stitched together to show the people's of the world, their work and their works, set to powerful orchestration with no narration whatsoever. Just film and music with a strong aesthetic appeal and a very nebulous message. If you're expecting a documentary about globalization, as was I, you'll likely be disappointed. However, if you just want something like National Geographic in slow motion, you're gonna love this flick. (B)

Indeed! I do not agree that Powaqqatsi is a cheap imitation or second to Koyaanisqatsi. In fact, when I first viewed it, I was overcome with the feeling that this would be the film I would show to an invading Alien strike-force to convince them that humanity is a truly beautiful thing and must be spared. Philip Glass' soundtrack is again an immaculate one, and the marriage of Reggio/Glass devastatingly effective. There are images and transitions in this film that will stay with me forever. Haunting, beautiful, hypnotic, ecstatic. I challenge anyone claiming dissastisfaction with this film to explain how the "cover" sequence of the boy being devoured by smoke leaves the viewer so ( or the reflection of city lights in the rear window of the moving car, or the grain threshing sequence...). This film is another masterpiece, period.

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).

Last week, I watched for the firs time Qatsi trilogy, which includes the films Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi. All of the film titles are taken from the Hopi language; Koyaanisquatsi meaning "life out of balance," Powaqqatsi - "life in transformation," and Naqoyqatsi - "life as war".

The films were made by Godfrey Reggio and the music score which plays as important role as the images do, was written by Philipp Glass.

The films have no spoken dialog or plot and have to be experienced viscerally first, and then analyzed because everyone sees different in them. For some viewers - they are glorified long music videos, for the others - the revelation that may change the way we perceive ourselves as human kind and our place on Earth.

As for me, personally, I realized that the collaboration between Reggio and Glass may be one of the best creative unions between a visionary director and a brilliant composer ever.

Of three Qatsi movies, my favorite is certainly, Powaqqatsi, and I know I'll come back to it many times more until my last day because it is not just a gorgeous movie with amazing images; it is one of very precious experiences that happen rarely in life. What made this experience possible is above all and without doubt the MUSIC. It was not the first music by Philip Glass I heard. I like his minimalistic and somehow disturbing scores that go right to your senses for "The Hours", "Notes of the Scandal", and "The Illusionist" (2006). Powaqqatsi was the second movie in Reggio's "Qatsi" trilogy for me. Just before it, I saw "Koyaanisqatsi" (1982) or Life out of Balance", the first of three Reggio-Glass movies. I like "Koyaanisqatsi" very much but I think it is the images that make it so memorable. "Powaqqatsi" for me, is about Glass's magnificent, un-earthy, divine and literally uplifting and transcending score. It is the music that could've been played after God had finished his work of creation and looked down at Earth and saw that it was good. I am a music lover, and I love music of different genres, epochs, and cultures. I enjoy listening to Mozart and Beatles, Nino Rota and Metallica, Zamphir and Scott Joplin, Bob Dylan and Lucianno Pavarotti, Bach and Edith Piaf. I love them all but I don't recall ever being so moved and taken out of this reality, feeling happy and overwhelmed, proud to be able to witness and enjoy the incredible achievement of human creativity and genius as when I was watching and listening to three "Anthems" and "Mosque and Temple" scenes of "Powwaqatsi: Life in Transformation". I don't buy the DVDs very often, I am not a collector but when the movie leaves unforgettable impression, when it brings something amazing into my life, I have to have it. I already ordered and received both, "Koyaanisqatsi" and "Powwaqatsi" on DVDs and I keep rewatching my favorite scenes and the music has the same impact at me making tears of joy coming to my eyes every time I hear the majestic hypnotic triumphant sounds of music written by Phillip Glass.

I would like to add the words of one of my favorite writers. They match perfectly the feelings and emotions the film has evoked in me:

"Mother Earth. She lived, this world of trees and rivers and rocks with deep stone thoughts. She breathed, had feelings, dreamed dreams, gave birth, laughed, and grew contemplative for millennia. This great creature swimming in the sea of space. What a wonder thought the man, for he had never understood that the Earth was his mother, before this. He had never understood, before this that the Earth had a life of its own, at once part of mankind and quite separated from mankind, another with a life of her own." Harlan Ellison "The Deathbird"

"Powaqqatsi" is the second picture in filmmaker Godfrey Reggios' "...Qatsi" trilogy, a series of features that basically meld visuals and music without resorting to a conventional narrative. This one has a message, clearly stated throughout, about the "cost of progress". Its first half shows us different rural cultures all over the world (from Nepal to India to Kenya, etc.), and derives a great deal of impact from giving us a portrait of good, old-fashioned, honest hard work, as well as displaying a cornucopia of beautiful images. The heartfelt music score is once again the work of Philip Glass, and it supplements the images wonderfully, although it can be repetitive.

Where the picture becomes a little less interesting is in the next 25 minutes or so, when we're confronted with the sights and sounds of the urban jungle in which many of us exist. Among the visuals utilized during this portion are those things that we all experience everyday: advertising, newscasts, and the like. But it all comes together in the final quarter, where we see that progress does come at its price; that it can lead to loss of identity, and be built on the backs of others.

All done without the use of a narrator, this is documentary-style filmmaking of a different variety. It does force one to stop and think about the world we live in, and about all the things that many of us take for granted.

This viewer went in blind to this picture without having seen "Koyaanisqatsi", the previous film in this trilogy. And one doesn't have to have done so. The material has a compelling nature regardless.

The title is a Hopi word, explained at the conclusion (before the end credits). It means a life form that consumes other life forms in order to extend its own existence. That pretty much sums up the whole theme of the film right there.

One of the most highbrow projects that the legendary Golan-Globus team (of Cannon Group fame) ever made.

Seven out of 10.

Where Koyaanisqatsi had spine-chiling music and hugely poignant images in perfect consert, Powaqatsi has some great new music and superb images of toil and the difficulties of living from around the world. The main musical theme crops up several times, and all versions are great and serve a different purpose. A great follow up to Koyaanisqatsi, but still its little brother.

"Powaqqatsi," directed by Godfrey Reggio, is a powerful and visually stunning sequel to his groundbreaking film "Koyaanisqatsi." The film explores the conflict between traditional ways of life and the impact of industrialization on Third World countries.

The film spans the globe, from a massive gold mine in Brazil to small villages in Africa and a Nepalese temple. The cinematography captures the beauty and harsh realities of these locations, showcasing the daily lives of people in these regions. The use of minimalist composer Philip Glass's music adds a haunting and mesmerizing element to the visuals, creating a sense of unease and urgency.

One of the most striking aspects of the film is its ability to portray the clash between old ways and modernization. The scenes of men carrying gold up and down a mountain in Brazil contrast with images of villages and religious ceremonies. The film highlights the intrusion of advertising and technology into these communities, leaving viewers with a sense of unease and questioning the impact of industrialization on traditional cultures.

The film's score, composed by Philip Glass, is particularly noteworthy. The music complements the visuals perfectly, emphasizing the themes of change and conflict. The use of minimalist music adds a sense of tension and urgency to the scenes, making the film feel more immersive and impactful.

The cinematography is also exceptional. The use of slow motion, fast motion, and time-lapse sequences adds depth and complexity to the film. The editing is masterful, with each scene carefully crafted to convey a specific emotion or idea.

Overall, "Powaqqatsi" is a powerful and thought-provoking documentary that challenges viewers to reflect on the impact of industrialization and modernization on traditional cultures. It is a must-see for those interested in exploring the human condition and the effects of technology on society.

Score: 7/10.

Well, when it came to Powaqqatsi's camera-work, I certainly had nothing to really complain about in regards to that. Overall, it was quite excellent and impressive to behold.

But, with that said, I honestly have to admit that viewing recurring images of 3rd World poverty and population overload (set at a gruellingly slow pace) did, indeed, become quite tiresome to sit through, in the long run.

In fact, I ended up watching most of Powaqqatsi in fast-forward mode - 'Cause I knew that I just couldn't have endured viewing it, from start to finish, at its full 99-minute running time. No way.

Powaqqatsi was directed by Godfrey Reggio. Its budget was $2.5 million.

My first impression agreed with the post above but it grows on you. Here are some reasons why.

Koyaanisqatsi was made by Americans, about America, for Americans.

The image style and content and the soundtrack (turn it up, even better by the 1998 rerecorded soundtrack and turn it up) are all familiar to American eyes and ears.

Poyaanisqatsi was made by a mixed team of nationalities about the countries of the Southern hemisphere. It goes places where we do not usually go, we face the unfamiliar. The soundtrack does the same thing. It uses rhythmical and melodic styles from the countries visited, once again unfamiliar to our American eyes and ears.

I enjoy Koyaanisqatsi for the awesome imagery including time scale effects a nd the unusual view it presents to us of what we live in everyday.

Both movies use picture with music but no words. The creators intended it to carry a message but left it to the viewer to create it. Here's a single example from the opening of K.

The visual shows the beginning of man's journey from Earth to moon, and the camera is put where we can see the rocket engines come to life close up. The soundtrack is completely contrary to the obvious visual idea. Instead of trumpet fanfares and explosions of sound we strain to hear deep solo voices chanting the title of the movie over and over as the dramatic rocket launch visual is slowed down so that 3 seconds ocupies 3 minutes. The result is a strange contrast between sound and vision which stands apart from conventional ideas. AS the rocket trembles in a shower of ice we are invited to ponder all the meanings that this event might possess and the space and time provided for our imagination to operate inside encourage the same contrary thoughts. The time distortion means that we no longer experience the explosive impulse created by man's mastery of metal, electricity and chemicals and let loose in a mighty roar when the clock counts ZERO.

Here there is no clock, the deep voice marks the passage of time and the picture we see is of some machine never seen before that can rise gently up into the air to the sound of chanting.

Poyaanisqatsi explores the more ancient ways still existing, outdoor manual labor rather than factories, seasonal activities, self sufficiency by sailing, fishing, digging, plowing, reaping and grinding the crop on small scales.

Less time is given over to time compression which was a strong feature of Koy'si. More time is given to time expansion, slow-motion cinematography and multiple exposure process. We spend time with the camera close up with people, individuality begins to become important as we are able to disriminate groups and individuals within groups.

The second half of 'P'begins to include material that may have a direct distressing affect on the viewer, perhaps only an uncomfortable feeling at first, which in my experience with repeated viewing, becomes stronger. There are a handful of moving images that for me have become outright disturbing, and more so each time I see them. There is sense of something dreadfully wrong going on, that we know about but are helpless and unable to name it and abolish it.

If anything the soundtrack of 'P' is superior to 'K' but again upon repeated listening. There is a piece of singing (at about 80 mins) that is in Muslim religious style and which blew my socks off with the combination of vocal strength and clarity, subtlety of melody, subtlety of rythmyic phrasing and powerful capability to attract attention.

I have no hesitation recommending 'K' to anyone including children. 'P' is more difficult, by the end you have seen some uncomfortable truths about the poor quality of life affecting a large proportion of the world population. How comfortable can we be on our sofas watching this tale be told to us?

Godfrey Reggio made his directorial debut with 1982's non-narrative documentary "Koyaanisqatsi", showing the effects of development. He followed it up with 1988's "Powaqqatsi", focusing on the clash between traditional ways of life in the global south and the pressure to modernize. Whether it's miners in Brazil or temples near the Himalayas, the viewer is forced to wonder whether these things can co-exist.

As with the previous documentary, there is no dialogue, just footage (including clips of Christie Brinkley and Dan Rather) accompanied by music. The first one was such a new type of filmmaking, so a second time around wouldn't have the same impact. Nonetheless, the documentary still forces the viewer to stop and think about the ways that modernization will inevitably upset the millennia-long lifestyles of people across the globe (especially in the decades since the documentary got released). Check it out.

I still have yet to see Reggio's "Naqoyqatsi".

I have seen this movie more than ten years ago and could not find it in a video store since then. It is therefore more remarkable that the images, both visual and auditory, have stayed with me for so long. This is a difficult movie to compare to others because it is unconventional. It relies mostly on sound and stunning visual images of the quality that one may find in the National Geographic. The narrative is not prescriptive and allows the viewer to construct the meaning. In this way the message, if one chooses to see a message in it, becomes all the more powerful. Leaving the cinema, I remember having the kind of feeling that I had when leaving the Tate gallery in London. This is Art! It is also social comment and documentary and one can not remain neutral towards the issues addressed in the picture. If the purpose of both art and documentary is to shock and create awareness of issues, in Powaqqatsi these two genres find a perfect marriage! If one has to group it with other movies, I would think of something like Quest for Fire and a French movie, Le Ball. These movies share only one thing and that is that almost no spoken dialogue is used. The viewer only uses pictures and sounds to create meaning. This takes the experience out of the cerebral sphere and allows one to feel it more. Subsequent reports of one's experience then tend to become watered down because one has to use words to describe it. Enough words for now! I hope that I can see this movie someday again, and preferably on the big screen.

This film is SUPERB! Less apocalyptic yet darker than Koyaanisqatsi, it also shows incredible beauty along the way. Only people expecting Koyaanisqatsi TWO would be disappointed. Like K, it features no dialogue nor actors, just images (this time predominantly of 3rd world countries both before industrialization, during and after) and the soundtrack by modern classical composer Phillip Glass. NOTE - whoever added in cast lines for the Powaqqatsi entry was nuts (maybe it wouldn't take NONE as an answer) but there's no cheryl tiegs nor david brinkley here.

Personally, I think that the 3 movies that are part of the Qatsi trilogy are also some of the most beautiful, poignant and original documentaries ever made.

This marvelous trilogy show the viewers about the beauty of the world, nature and people, but it also is able to show what kind of chaos and tragedies could be generated in the modern society, and also makes the viewer think about the relationship of mankind with technology. And the most incredible part of it, is that it doesn't need words or pretentious speeches to do that: Only with images and music, Godfrey Reggio is able to communicate us an important message about the role that humans play on the planet Earth.

On the visual level "Powaqqatsi" is equally impressive as "Koyaanisqatsi", having some of the most memorable and beautiful scenes in the history of cinema. It follows the same wonderful style of that previous film, and it also prepares us for the chaos present in Naqoyqatsi.

Each film of the trilogy is unique, wonderful and outstanding, and personally I think that the Qatsi trilogy is one of the highest achievements in the history of cinema.

Like in the Godfather trilogy, the 1st and 2nd installations prove solid while the 3rd proves lacking.

Transformation is key in this film and the director shows it well.

4.5/5. Watch the first film before watching this one.

After having watched Koyaanisqatsi two or three dozen times and loving every second of it, I finally had a chance to see it's sequel Life In Transformation. I was truly dissappointed as it did not nearly stand up to the high standards of the first. 90 minutes of people with baskets on their head is not my idea of a good movie. The Philip Glass score for this one had neither the beauty nor the correlating strength of the first. Compared with Koyaanisqatsi this movie seemed slow and pointless. A watered down version of Baraka, which is the same idea but done better. I truly hope the third movie in this series will not follow the example of this waste.

This film is, according to its director, a look at a "global culture"; a visual assessment of the response of the "third world" to the force of globalization and the pressure to modernize. He says there are both good points and bad points to be observed, and hopes to portray the creativity and industriousness with which people around the world respond to the demands of their environments.

I do not see this. I see a moving, and beautiful film, but not about this. I see the destructive effects of the ever-increasing commodification of nature, life, and labor, on people as they are forced to abandon their homes and livelihoods to nationalist projects and capital ventures. I see (to use Karl Polanyi's words) the uprooting of peoples and places, and the destructive forces of market enterprise disguised under tropes of progress and modernity.

Yes. Human beings are creative and industrious, and have dealt with these problems in unique and fascinating ways. But, rather than simply celebrating the Beauty of Human Life, in all it's glory, let this film be a call to recognize this beauty, and recognize its value as intrinsic, as part and parcel to the livelihoods of the people it is embodied within.

The use of Philip Glass's music, which incorporates various world music genres (so it's not typical minimalist Glass), along with the pictures of various "Global South" locations, provides a window into a world that not many of us in the "Global North" encounter. The first time I saw this movie was when it was accompanied live by Philip Glass and his ensemble, and I have to say that's the best way to see it.

Whereas Koyaanisqatsi (the first film in the trilogy) focused primarily on the ramifications of industrialization and on the priority of speed in modern life, Powaqqatsi moves at a leisurely, stately pace, indicative of the pace of life in non-industrialized and non-urbanized (or partially industrialized or urbanized) societies.

This film will not be to everybody's taste, as there is no dialogue, no plot, and no resolution at the end in a "happily ever after". But for what it is (Ebert called it a sort of music video), it's excellent.