Powaqqatsi - Life in Transformation
by Godfrey Reggio
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Dan Rather, David Brinkley, Pope John Paul IIDirector: Godfrey Reggio
Brand: Sony
Producer: Godfrey Reggio
Writer: Godfrey Reggio
Producer: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: George Lucas
Producer: Kurt Munkacsi
Producer: Lawrence Taub
Producer: Mandeep Kakkar
Producer: Marcel Kahn
Producer: Mel Lawrence
Producer: Menahem Golan
Producer: Shyam Benegal
Producer: Tom Garrett
Producer: Tom Luddy
Writer: Ken Richards
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
Published: 2002-09-01
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-17
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Powaqqatsi - Life in Transformation
Movie Review: A Film for Transforming Perceptions
Summary: 5 Stars
Some reviewers have expressed confusion or displeasure over the message of this film. Having attended a question-and-answer session with the director, Godfrey Reggio, and worked as an editor in the journalism field, I hope I can assist in interpretation. Here is mine in a nutshell: Exploitation produces poverty.
The principle that the filmmakers were seeking to illustrate was that while colonization comes in diverse forms, it is always destructive in the end -- even if the means are through economic domination rather than brute occupation. So-called "civilized" societies prey upon the Third World for their own gain, thereby ravaging the spirit of its people, depleting the natural resources of its nations, and tainting the uniqueness of its cultures.
The film reveals scenes that the U.S. media often fail to show -- the backbreaking labor and environmental destruction inflicted as offerings to the almighty Profit. The altar of financial markets generates our wealth (the trilogy's first film, Koyaanisqatsi, covers technology- and consumer-based culture), yet as we acquire greater strength and contentment, our business practices shorten the life span and deteriorate the quality of life in weaker countries. The extraction and importation of their very vitality seems to be the fundamental wellspring for our gross domestic product, essentially amounting to a lopsided transaction akin to parasitism.
For contrast, the music on the soundtrack incorporates energetic elements of this highly valued commodity from faraway lands: pounding rhythms, intricate phrases, meditative passages, foreign melodies, exotic harmonies, and even a dynamic children's chorus. This soundscape was intended to provide a sense of the heart and soul of the camera's subjects -- the people in the images.
I highly recommend Powaqqatsi, especially since after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it presents renewed significance and compelling insight. After all, what do Americans perceive about other cultures and the ways we affect them? For example, would not a survey of natural-born U.S. citizens indicate that only a small percentage of us know more than three common first names from the Arabic world? And how many of us are familiar with the opinions that other nations' citizens hold about our activities in their countries? For that matter, are we fully informed about the actions abroad by our government and our companies? Although a single film can't completely fill in all the gaps in our awareness, Powaqqatsi does help bring to our attention that such voids exist.
As long as a lack of understanding and concern typifies the pursuit of "capitalism" and "freedom" by the world's greatest democracies, we should anticipate that this attitude will continue to cause suffering. Powaqqatsi is a call for compassion, the true front in civilization's ongoing "war on terror," otherwise known as the fight for humanity's survival.
Summary of Powaqqatsi - Life in Transformation
POWAQQATSI - DVD Movie