
Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance - 0xdeadbeefbabe
http://www.hulu.com/watch/27800
======
petercooper
Koyaanisqatsi is my favorite movie. I saw a part of it while skipping channels
on late night TV about 10 years ago and had my mind blown. I've since seen it
a ton of times, including live with Philip Glass's "Ensemble". Big thumbs up.
Startup types might enjoy much of the San Francisco footage, including the
long gone double decker Embarcadero Freeway.

It's amazing how many references (subtle or not) to Koyaanisqatsi you see in
other movies or even commercials that ape its style. My favorite, however, has
to be The Simpsons' Koyaani-SCRATCHY:
[https://vimeo.com/21283911](https://vimeo.com/21283911) :-)

~~~
0xdeadbeefbabe
Okay, I agree it's memorable, but favorite? 10 years ago you weren't even
watching it like it's supposed to be watched on laser disk or blu-ray. Thanks
for Koyaani-SCRATCHY I think :-).

~~~
mmastrac
I think we all just take HD for granted these days. Back then everyone was
watching everything in SD and we just didn't know any better.

~~~
petercooper
I'm considering downgrading my HD cable to standard to save $15/month. I mean
I can see the difference but it's a bit of a meh difference to me. But then I
did spend 20+ years with standard and the quality of the shows themselves was
even higher back then ;-)

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stevewilhelm
No, no, no. Don't watch it on Hulu. Experience the Criterion Collection Qatsi
Trilogy Blu-ray [1] instead.

Then share it with friends and family, and eventually donate it to your local
public library.

Win, win, win.

[1] [http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/934-the-qatsi-
trilogy](http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/934-the-qatsi-trilogy)

~~~
0xdeadbeefbabe
But hulu has ads. In the middle of a geico commercial, if you listen closely,
you can hear someone chanting koyaanisqatsi.

~~~
hablahaha
Since you brought it up... Hulu has some of the worst ads I've ever seen. In
my geographic region I have to suffer through upwards of three Cricket Mobile
ads in an hour long program and they are the WORST. The Geico commercials are
pretty bad too - I have a friend who likes them, but he's a cheese ball.

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ca98am79
From movie critic Leonard Malton: (4-stars, highest rating) "Spellbinding,
senses-staggering nonnarrative film soars across the United States in search
of vistas both natural and man-made. Much of the photography is slow-motion or
time-lapse (the title is Hopi Indian for "life out of balance"), all of it set
to a mesmerizing score by Philip Glass. So rich in beauty and detail that with
each viewing it becomes a new and different film. Should be seen in a theatre
for maximum impact. Followed by POWAQQATSI and NAQOYQATSI"

------
uses
This is a film which, if you watch it all the way through and don't let your
brain argue with what you're seeing, will help you think about the earth and
what people are and what they're trying to do, and other things that are hard
to describe.

~~~
xutopia
It's one of those movies that take on whatever theme you feel is appropriate.

It made me think of the scale of human achievement, how we move so much from
place to place, how we build, pollute and destroy, how we care for others
around us but know so little about the people we cross every day on our daily
commute.

It's like being high without taking any drugs really.

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childoftv
In my mind this work is the GEB of video. And its themes are related.

Seen the movie approx 20 times. For me it's the most successful work of
minimalist music ever, the best music to footage match I've seen (Danny Elfman
does pretty well too I guess) and a deeply important view of earth, life and
humanity that invites you to transcend your individualism and individualistic
vantage point for a short while.

Brian Eno, speaking at the long now foundation recently, referred to long term
patterns in human life as 'the cycles of time' vs 'the arrow of progress' and
there is absolutely no movie that better shows this odd meta-pattern on Earth
of cycles and lines combining, sometimes very obviously and sometimes more
subtly. Watch it anywhere but watch it without ads [turn off your phone, get
over your worry about being bored and see if your mind won't tune in]

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parski
Ron Fricke was involved in the making of this film. I whole heartedly
recommend his two films Baraka and the more recent Samsara. The latter is the
most stunning film I have ever seen and I recommend that everyone should see
it. It is absolutely amazing! Baraka is fantastic too.

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madaxe_again
If you liked Koyaanisqatsi, you'll love Baraka [1] and Samsara [2], both also
Ron Fricke.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraka_(film)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraka_\(film\))

[2]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara_(2011_film)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara_\(2011_film\))

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colinbartlett
The entire trilogy is fantastic: Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi.

~~~
0xdeadbeefbabe
I posted this in response to Life is a game, this is your strategy guide
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7182636](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7182636),
so people could see the headlines together. Did you notice that? Life is more
complicated than a game.

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joeevans
and he just released a new film last week, after years working on it:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/movies/godfrey-reggios-
vis...](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/movies/godfrey-reggios-visitors-is-
a-slow-parade-of-faces.html)

------
RRRA
You might want to check out Ron Fricke's movies, they are a splendid window
into human's life and their relation to this planet.

Specifically Baraka which is to my taste his best, but also Samsara and
Chronos.

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the-kenny
Please not that Hulu has stupid georestrictions. Please think of the people
outside US.

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joeframbach
Hulu cannot do this film justice. This film deserves to be watched in the
highest quality medium available, no interruptions.

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cecinepasunoeuf
I'm surprised to see this posted on HN.

If you're interested in this genre of film, I happen to have just uploaded a
video in a similar style which you can watch here:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYAVkuBxZ_Q&hd=1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYAVkuBxZ_Q&hd=1)

My brother shot the footage while traveling the world, I edited, and music is
by 'Jupi/ter' on Soundcloud. The production value may not be as high as
Koyaanisqatsi, but it wont' cost you anything but your time.

Currently it's restricted to 30fps by Youtube, but I'm going to try iron out a
few technical problems and upload a 60fps torrent version later.

~~~
0xdeadbeefbabe
I'm surprised it got so far on hn too. Thank you for the video. I didn't
realize this was a style, so I'm excited to see it.

~~~
cecinepasunoeuf
Thanks for watching if you get a chance. Glad to hear your feedback too. :)

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51Cards
I have been watching this since I could catch it as a teenager on SuperChannel
in the early 80's. The entire trilogy are still among my favourite films.

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picklestime
I remember seeing this at a repertory theatre about 15 years ago and having my
mind blown. Yes Baraka and Samsara are both beautiful but IMO they lack the
cohesiveness of Koyaanisqatsi, especially considering the interplay of music +
images.

I echo the others who say that watching this with ads is a terrible idea. It
completely kills the flow of it. I can't think of a worse movie to have
interrupted by ads.

If you can, watch it any other way.

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eterm
I haven't seen the film, but the sound track is a classic by Phillip Glass,
part of which (Pruit Igoe) was used on the GTA IV radio/soundtrack.

~~~
abruzzi
the Pruit Igoe music has been repurposed for a number of other films. You will
hear it a lot in the Watchmen adaptation. Also visually, this film basically
invented the city-as-a-circuit-board visual metaphor.

~~~
zorked
"She drove into San Narciso on a Sunday, in a rented Impala. Nothing was
happening. She looked down a slope, needing to squint for the sunlight, onto a
vast sprawl of houses which had grown up all together, like a well-tended
crop, from the dull brown earth; and she thought of the time she'd opened a
transistor radio to replace a battery and seen her first printed circuit. The
ordered swirl of houses and streets, from this high angle, sprang at her now
with the same unexpected, astonishing clarity as the circuit card had. (...)"

From Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, 1966

~~~
abruzzi
Which I've read many times, but nonetheless, the imagery of highways shot at
slow frame rates with long exposures creating a visual metaphor similar to a
circuit, used many times in later works (even commercials) originated here.

------
80
Man With A Movie Camera and Sans Soleil are two good ones in a similar vein
(better, I think)

------
AndrewGreen
This was one of the few titles available on CAV laser disc in 1990 -- I
watched it over and over in the course of working on MediaMaker, but for some
reason I didn't discover the title till stumbling across it online a couple of
years ago.

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troystribling
A recent interview with Godfrey Reggio (the director of Koyaanisqatsi),
[http://www.singularityweblog.com/godfrey-reggio-
koyaanisqats...](http://www.singularityweblog.com/godfrey-reggio-
koyaanisqatsi/)

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synesso
Baraka and Samsara beat this movie hands down. I know this is sacrilegious,
but that Philip Glass soundtrack is awful.

~~~
melloclello
Booooo

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zwieback
I grew up in Stuttgart where some of Philip Glass' operas had their premiere.
Absolutely awesome experience.

------
dangle
Which ad do you prefer?

~~~
0xdeadbeefbabe
The radio shack ad where the 80s calls and wants their store back.

------
danbmil99
Best. Fucking. Movie. Ever.

------
twocommas
One of my favorite films when I was younger. I discovered the music composers
Phillip Glass and subsequently Steve Reich through the films. Many
documentaries and media productions play on the audio visual styles Reggio
popularized in the film. It's interesting how often I detect sqatsi-ism in
modern film (1). Just a couple days ago while watching "Home" I felt it's
presence (2).

Koyaanisqatsi was the first of a trilogy of films:

Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koyaanisqatsi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koyaanisqatsi)
Trailer:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirH8PADDgQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirH8PADDgQ)

Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powaqqatsi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powaqqatsi)
Trailer:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNVTmWRcUbY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNVTmWRcUbY)

Naqoyqatsi: Life as War
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naqoyqatsi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naqoyqatsi)
Trailer:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PxT3MtTedw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PxT3MtTedw)

The films creator, Godfrey Reggio has recently created a new work:

Visitors: 2013
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visitors_(2013_film)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visitors_\(2013_film\))
Trailer:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1ZwYJI55Rs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1ZwYJI55Rs)

The original cinematographer for Koyaanisqatsi, Ron Fricke, went on to produce
similar styles of films:

Samsara:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara_(2011_film)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara_\(2011_film\))
Baraka:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraka_(film)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraka_\(film\))
Chronos:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronos_(film)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronos_\(film\))

Phillip Glass: Music Composer:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Glass](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillip_Glass)
Sample of Phillip Glass's music: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkof3nPK--
Y](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkof3nPK--Y)

Steve Reich: Music Composer
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Reich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Reich)
Sample of Steve Reich's music:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU23LqQ6LY4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU23LqQ6LY4)

\---

(1) Sqatsi-ism: Made up word to describe the type of audio visual style
created and popularized in the original film, which can now be seen throughout
media.

(2) Home:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU).
Interesting fact, the narrator of the film sounds almost identical to the
woman in Phillip Glass's song "Einstein on the Beach Play 5", which was
created back when he did the score for Koyaanisqatsi. Play 5:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmX_GgozpQs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmX_GgozpQs).

Note: If you enjoy documentaries TrueFilms a great resources to discover new
titles you may not have seen before:
[http://truefilms.com](http://truefilms.com). In fact, many of the titles
listed above are on this list.

