Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Koyaanisqatsi (1982) -- G. Reggio

First watched as part of a cultural studies class at William and Mary (Swem Library) in 1988 or 1989.  Now, 30 years plus after it was filmed, Koyaanisqatsi still has the power to arrest one's attention with its plot-less onslaught of images set to music by Philip Glass.  However, some of the images of technology (creating a "life out of balance") are so dated that, for me, they conjure up images of childhood rather than the intended vision of insane mass production and too many cars, too many people, too much, too fast.  Glass's score is so hypnotic, so trippy, so filled with majestic monks intoning "koyaanisqatsi",  that it is easy to get lost in the flow of the film and the flow of one's own thoughts.