Powaqqatsi (1988)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Godfrey Reggio

Writers:

Godfrey Reggio (writer)
Ken Richards (writer)

Release Date:

23 February 1989 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Life in Transformation

Plot:

An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them. |

Plot Keywords:

Industry | Avant Garde | Environment | Experimental Film | Slow Motion

Cast

Christie Brinkley	...	(archive footage)
David Brinkley	...	(archive footage)
Pope John Paul II	...	(archive footage)
Dan Rather	...	(archive footage)
Cheryl Tiegs	...	(archive footage)

Directed by
Godfrey Reggio

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Godfrey Reggio		writer
Ken Richards		writer

Produced by
Shyam Benegal	....	international producer: India
Francis Ford Coppola	....	executive producer
Yoram Globus	....	executive producer
Menahem Golan	....	executive producer
Marcel Kahn	....	associate producer
Mandeep Kakkar	....	international producer: India
Mel Lawrence	....	producer
George Lucas	....	executive producer
Tom Luddy	....	associate producer
Kurt Munkacsi	....	producer
Godfrey Reggio	....	producer
Lawrence Taub	....	producer

Original Music by
Philip Glass

Cinematography by
Graham Berry
Leonidas Zourdoumis

Film Editing by
Iris Cahn
Miroslav Janek
Alton Walpole

Sound Department
Jeff Rona	....	sound effects editor (as Jeffrey Rona)
Greg Smith	....	assistant sound recordist
Gary Summers	....	sound re-recording mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Edward A. Gutentag	....	assistant camera
Murray Van Dyke	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Gay Browning	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Seymour Barab	....	musician: cello
John Moses	....	musician
Kurt Munkacsi	....	music production
Michael Riesman	....	musical director
Jeff Rona	....	musician: keyboards and synthesiser (as Jeffrey Rona)

Other crew
Philip Glass	....	script consultant
Ray Hemenez	....	research director
Juliusz Kossakowski	....	unit coordinator

Production Companies

• Golan-Globus Productions
• Santa Fe Institute for Regional Education

Distributors

• Cannon Film Distributors (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• Scotia-Cannon (1988) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Imperial Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• América Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Sprocket Systems  re-recording services provided by

Also Known As:

Northsouth: Life on the Edge (USA) (working title)
Powwaqatsi: Life in Transformation (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Hopi | English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S (2004) | UK:U | Brazil:Livre | Sweden:Btl | USA:G | Germany:6 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Golan-Globus Productions

Trivia:

As this film is more international in flavor than its predecessor, "Koyaanisqatsi", the music by Philip Glass reflects this and draws its themes from other cultures.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Powaqqatsi: Impact of Progress (2002) (V)

rebuttal of other viewers comments

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.