The Qatsi Trilogy

Out of balance, in transformation and at war... so is life today and so is it beautifully painted in the Qatsi Trilogy, the informal name given to three films produced by Godfrey Reggio and scored by Philip Glass. The films consisting mostly of slow motion and time-lapse photography contain no narration and relies heavily on music to set the film's tone. Legendary Philip Glass and Ensemble have toured with the film, playing music live in front of the film screen for the first chapter called Koyaanisqatsi (1983), meaning Life out of balance in Hopi dialect.

This first chapter depicting different aspects of man and technology in the modern life of industrial countries, is the best known of the trilogy and is considered a cult film. The second chapter: Powaqqatsi (1988) focuses more on the conflict in third world countries between traditional ways of life and the new ways of life introduced with industrialization. Powaqqatsi is a Hopi word meaning "parasitic way of life" or "life in transition". In this second film, the score featuring children's voices from South America and Africa increase the impact of the film's message and images.

The final chapter of the trilogy, Naqoyqatsi: Life as war (2002) focuses on technology and the perceived lack of natural environments in industrialized society. In contrast to the first two parts, the majority of this film was created not by filming in the real world, but by using archive footage and stock images, manipulated and processed digitally on non-linear editing workstations and intercut with specially-produced CGI that the director described as "virtual cinema."

These widely acclaimed and awarded films have the power to communicate to you from the realm beyond words. Cant' be labelled, can't be put in a box; the Qatsi trilogy is an intimate journey that takes your mind and soul from the places beyond things, rock and sky, to the things we have girded ourselves in, cities. It is a wordless, feeling thing that even the translation from Hopi dialect can't express. The concept behind "koy.aa.nis.qat.si" are 1) crazy life 2) life out of balance 3) life disintegrating 4) life in turmoil 5) a way of life that calls for another way of living... all existing in one word.

There is perhaps no higher praise for a film than saying it changed the way you think. Once you see the Qatsi Trilogy, they will deserve that praise to you.

Find more info about the QATSI Trilogy
Check this online database: Spirit of Baraka
Learn more about the Hopi language