Unbalanced life and silent filmmaking (a movie review)

“5 out of 5” he said about ‘Koyaanisqatsi’. In that moment, I knew that it was going to be the title of the movie that I’d watch that night. This friend of mine is usually not that generous when it comes to giving stars so I couldn’t miss the object of such an unexpected score, who knows… the next 5 stars from him may luckily come after another year and a half.

Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi term which means ‘unbalanced life’. The Hopi tribe, like most native American cultures, had a sensitive understanding and deep respect towards nature and the impact that humans cause on it. I’ve even heard that the Aztecs invented the wheel and developed propulsion mechanisms that they preferred not to use, fearing that it would break that delicate balance. A balance that, thanks to our beloved Western civilization, today is not even an old memory, but an unreachable dream in the new continent.

This movie has no dialogs but talks a lot about this. It has been one of the most visually intense experiences of the last months. To contemplate the overwhelming beauty of our planet in the way that Ron Fricke portrays it and to enjoy the spotless creation of Philip Glass almost leaves the director with no merit. But he has, this movie is the story of a premonition, the same premonition that the Icarus myth reflected so long ago. It is the curse that this human species carries in its nature, the ambition to reach the sun.

5 out of 5 for Mr. Reggio and his patience, his bravery, his visionary pessimism and especially, 5 out of 5 for knowing how to keep silent for 14 years before to film this wonder.