Naqoyqatsi (2002)

Director:

Godfrey Reggio

Writer:

Godfrey Reggio (written by)

Release Date:

21 January 2003 (Czech Republic)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Life as War.

Plot:

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by gobalized technology and violence.

Plot Keywords:

Washington D.C. | Dream Like | No Dialogue | Stock Footage | Non Narrative

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bella Donna	...	(archive footage)
Elton John	...	Himself (archive footage)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Herself (archive footage)
Bhagwan Mirchandani	...	Business Man
Steven Soderbergh	...	Man reflected in digital screens (3rd segment)
Troy Aikman	...	Himself (at Super Bowl XXX) (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Beatles	...	Themselves (archive footage) (uncredited)
Osama Bin Laden	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Fidel Castro	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Warren Christopher	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bill Clinton	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Thomas A. Edison	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Albert Einstein	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Nikita Khrushchev	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Henry Kissinger	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dalai Lama	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
V.I. Lenin	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Greg Louganis	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jeff Maksym	...	Himself (uncredited)
Tse-tung Mao	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pope John Paul II	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (assassination attempt) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jimmy Swaggart	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Godfrey Reggio

Writing credits
Godfrey Reggio		(written by)

Produced by
Joe Beirne	....	producer
Steve Goldin	....	associate producer
Mel Lawrence	....	co-producer
Federico Negri	....	line producer
Godfrey Reggio	....	producer
Steven Soderbergh	....	executive producer
Lawrence Taub	....	producer

Original Music by
Philip Glass

Cinematography by
Russell Lee Fine

Film Editing by
Jon Kane

Makeup Department
Sanja Milic	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Susan Lazarus	....	post-production supervisor
Sophia Lin	....	production manager: New York City

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jon Kane	....	second unit director

Art Department
Jon Kane	....	visual designer

Sound Department
Steve Boeddeker	....	sound designer
Martin Czembor	....	sound re-recording mixer
Matthew Griffin	....	sound apprentice (as Matt Griffin)
Noah Katz	....	assistant sound designer
Avi Laniado	....	engineering support
Mario McNulty	....	assistant sound engineer
Nathaniel Reichman	....	sound services
Steve F.B. Smith	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby

Visual Effects by
Manuel Gaulot	....	visual effects and image reanimation
Lucien Harriot	....	digital effects artist
Cameron Hickey	....	original CGI animator
Zachary David Medow	....	original CGI animator

Camera and Electrical Department
John Bailey	....	camera operator: guest camera
Christopher Bottoms	....	assistant camera
John Clemens	....	first assistant camera: New York City
Jesse Cory	....	grip
Timothy Housel	....	additional camera operator

Editorial Department
David Abelson	....	assistant film editor
Don Ciana	....	color timer
Joe Gawler	....	digital intermediate colorist
Karla P. Henwood	....	conforming editor
Karla P. Henwood	....	first assistant editor
Bill Morrison	....	additional editor
Stan Sztaba	....	negative cutter
Harold Lee Yen	....	apprentice editor

Music Department
Albert de Ruiter	....	musician: bass vocalist
Jack Kripl	....	musician: flute
Yo-Yo Ma	....	musician: cello solos
Kurt Munkacsi	....	music producer
Nathaniel Reichman	....	assistant music studio director
Michael Riesman	....	conductor

Other crew
Jeffrey A. Brown	....	assistant production coordinator: New York City
Ty Burr	....	project realization
Boris Cifuentes	....	production assistant
Ray Hemenez	....	image research director
Miroslav Janek	....	continuity
Ekkehart Malotki	....	consultant: Hopi language
Christian Zak	....	technical director

Thanks
George Lucas	....	continuing thanks

Production Companies

• Miramax Films
• Qatsi Productions

Distributors

• Mikado
• Miramax Films
• RCV Film Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (Belgium)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• Spin Film (Czech Republic)
• TFM Distribution
• Toshiba Entertainment (Japan) (theatrical)
• West

Other Companies

• Skywalker Sound  sound editorial services provided by

Also Known As:

Naqoyqatsi: Life as War (USA) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for violent and disturbing images, and for brief nudity.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hungary:14 | Iceland:L | Australia:G | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:G | USA:PG (certificate #39003)

Filming Locations:

Michigan Central Depot - W. Vernor and W. Michigan Avenues, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Movie Connections:

Edited from Doom (1993) (VG)

The Reggio/Glass Trilogy, KOYAPOWANAQYQATSI.

I was mesmerized by KOY in the early '80's. Wishing to preserve the purity of that experience, I eschewed the Qatsi of the Powaqqa - until quite recently, when I collided with NAQOY. I retreated back to the more comforting Sqatsi of KOY, but eventually I had to confront the other two films as well.

These three films are a remarkable achievement. I feel honored to have been able to experience them. My emotions ranged far and wide, from longing for the simple, beautiful life, to grudging pride for man's achievements, and finally to the fear that we have really screwed things up. In the panel discussion in Special Features, Godfrey Reggio told us that he chose the Hopi language for his 'lingua franca' because it carried no baggage. He then endowed it with such baggage. Do the Hopi thank him for bowdlerizing their language?

KOY held that technology is out of balance with nature. Alas, if only "THEY" (that's you, not me, Pilgrim) had heeded the chants, "WE" would have a serene, beautiful life. Hmmm. If man had not developed technologies, while some animals have, would that be life in balance?

POWAQQAE, bad sorcerers that they are, have seduced the backwards, some say stupid, people of the southern hemisphere with false promises of prosperity and easier lives. Jared Diamond persuasively posits that the intelligence of Third World people is not greatly different from that of us, their northern neighbors. Consider this: WE offer people laboring in the southern hemisphere the option of 1) remaining one season away from starvation; or 2) technologies that result in their lives approximating those of the numberless people featured in POQAQQATSI. WE might be pleased if THEY chose the simpler, idyllic subsistence life, but this is the worst kind of sophistry. Do WE really know what's best for others? Are WE preternaturally wiser and smarter than others in the world? Time will tell. The Muezzin's mesmerizing, haunting call to prayer at the end of the film is a chilling reminder that humanity will never lack for souls who believe they do know better.

NAQOYQATSI gets the range. Life IS war. Spend a little time away from your clubs and domiciles and observe what is going on in backyards, savannas and forests. WAR is a technology, a survival tool. Implicit in NAQOY is a defense of my notion that some living things, but not all, adapt and survive. That means developing successful behaviors and tools. Institutions, too. Don't blame me; I didn't write the script. Maybe I read it in the wrong language.