Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Powaqqatsi is a american film of genre Drama directed by Godfrey Reggio released in USA on 29 april 1988 with Godfrey Reggio

Powaqqatsi (1988)

Powaqqatsi
If you like this film, let us know!
Released in USA 29 april 1988
Length 1h39
Directed by
OriginUSA
Genres Drama,    Documentary,    Musical
Rating71% 3.5995453.5995453.5995453.5995453.599545

Powaqqatsi (/poʊwɑːkˈkɑːtsiː/ POH-wahk-KAH-tsee), or Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation, is a 1988 American documentary film directed by Godfrey Reggio and the sequel to Reggio's experimental 1982 film, Koyaanisqatsi. It is the second film in the Qatsi trilogy.

Powaqqatsi is a Hopi word meaning "parasitic way of life" or "life in transition". While Koyaanisqatsi focused on modern life in industrial countries, Powaqqatsi, which similarly has no dialogue, focuses more on the conflict in third world countries between traditional ways of life and the new ways of life introduced with industrialization. As with Koyaanisqatsi and the third and final part of the 'Qatsi' trilogy, Naqoyqatsi, the film is strongly related to its soundtrack, written by Philip Glass. Here, human voices (especially children's and mainly from South America and Africa) appear more than in Koyaanisqatsi, in harmony with the film's message and images.

Synopsis

In the beginning chapter, "Serra Pelada", men from Serra Pelada (a gold mine in Brazil) are seen carrying bags of dirt up to a destination. In the middle of the chapter, various shots outside of Serra Pelada are shown. Near the end of the chapter, a few men are carrying another man who was struck by a falling rock (mentioned in the "Impact of progress" feature on the DVD) uphill along a procession of workers who are carrying dirt filled sacks. After that, several discordant layered exposures of the dirt carriers are shown. The scene cross fades to show the image of a head, with multiple exposures of the same head rapidly rotating and layered upon to give a manifold appearance. This is an apparent allusion to Janus, the god of beginnings, endings and transitions, keeping with the film's central themes of progress and change. After that, the film's title is shown in red.

Actors

Trailer of Powaqqatsi

Bluray, DVD

Streaming / VOD

Source : Wikidata

Qatsi trilogy

Koyaanisqatsi (1983) Powaqqatsi (1988) Naqoyqatsi (2002)

Comments


Leave comment :

Suggestions of similar film to Powaqqatsi

There are 4 films with the same actors, 4 films with the same director, 72622 with the same cinematographic genres (including 72 with exactly the same 3 genres than Powaqqatsi), to have finally 70 suggestions of similar films.

If you liked Powaqqatsi, you will probably like those similar films :
Koyaanisqatsi, 1h27
Directed by Godfrey Reggio
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Documentary, Musical
Themes Environmental films, Documentary films about technology
Rating81% 4.09724.09724.09724.09724.0972
The first image in the film is of the Great Gallery pictograph in Horseshoe Canyon (Utah), in Canyonlands National Park. The section shown depicts several tall, shadowed figures standing near a taller figure adorned with a crown. The next image is a close-up of a Saturn V rocket during its launch. The film fades into a shot of a desolate desert landscape. From there, it progresses to footage of various natural phenomena such as waves and clouds.
Naqoyqatsi
Naqoyqatsi (2002)
, 1h29
Directed by Godfrey Reggio
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Documentary, Musical
Actors Marlon Brando, Elton John, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steven Soderbergh, Ronald Reagan, Paul McCartney
Rating63% 3.196593.196593.196593.196593.19659
According to Reggio, the film has no screenplay per se, but three movements (like those of a symphony) with different themes:
Anima Mundi, 28minutes
Directed by Godfrey Reggio
Origin Italie
Genres Documentary, Musical
Themes Environmental films, Documentary films about environmental issues, Documentary films about nature
Rating74% 3.733183.733183.733183.733183.73318
"Anima Mundi" est une combinaison poétique de musique et d'images réalisées à partir des meilleurs films scientifiques, entremêlées d'images originales et accompagnées d'une bande sonore continue composée par Philip Glass.
Visitors
Visitors (2013)
, 1h27
Directed by Godfrey Reggio
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Horror
Themes Documentary films about technology
Rating61% 3.0998853.0998853.0998853.0998853.099885
Un documentaire expérimental consacré à la relation entre l'Homme et la technologie.
Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, 1h11
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Documentary films about music and musicians, Documentaire sur une personnalité, Musical films
Actors Philip Glass, David Byrne
Rating72% 3.6313153.6313153.6313153.6313153.631315
Wild Combination begins with interviews of Russell's parents discussing their youngest offspring's childhood. The film describes how Russell as a young boy is obsessed with Timothy Leary and insecure about his acne. Leaving Iowa for San Francisco in the late sixties, he joins a Buddhist collective and befriends Allen Ginsburg. Russell decides to move to New York in the early seventies, where he starts working as the musical director of the Kitchen and becomes part of the downtown scene of artists, sharing an apartment building with Allen Ginsburg and Richard Hell. Russell engages in nearly every music scene the city has to offer: disco at David Mancuso's Loft, rock at CBGB, minimal composition at the Kitchen, and Allen Ginsberg's poetry recitations. In 1978, Russell begins dating Tom Lee, whom he stays with until his AIDS-related death in 1992.
Patti Smith: Dream of Life, 1h49
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Musical
Themes Films about writers, Films about music and musicians, Documentary films about music and musicians, Documentaire sur une personnalité, Musical films
Actors Michael Peter Balzary, Philip Glass, Lenny Kaye, Sam Shepard, Michael Stipe, Bob Dylan
Rating69% 3.486833.486833.486833.486833.48683
Le film nous révèle la personnalité complexe et charismatique de la "marraine du punk" qui s'est imposée dans les années 70 grâce à son style poétique et à ses textes enragés. Entre interviews, concerts, peinture et photographies, Dream of Life explore onze années de la vie de l'artiste. Pour cette icône du rock, qui commente le film en voix-off, l'existence peut se définir comme une redoutable contradiction.
Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars, 1h30
Directed by Howard Brookner
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Actors Robert Wilson, Philip Glass, Ingrid Andree

Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars is an in-depth documentation of Robert Wilson’s ambitious attempt to stage an epic, twelve-hour, multinational opera for the 1984 Summer Olympics. Filmmaker Howard Brookner follows the avant-garde theatre director as he confronts a hectic work schedule, funding difficulties and relentless international travel in attempt to complete his preparations.
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, 43minutes
Directed by Todd Haynes
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Documentary, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Rob LaBelle, Michael David Edwards, Todd Haynes, Ronald Reagan
Rating76% 3.841693.841693.841693.841693.84169
The film covers Karen Carpenter from the time of her "discovery" in 1966 to her untimely death by cardiac arrest (secondary to anorexia nervosa) in 1983. The movie begins with a quasi-first person recap of her mother Agnes Carpenter discovering Karen's body in her parents' Downey, California home on February 4, 1983, and then returns by flashback to 1966. The story touches on major points in Karen's life from 1966 on:
Jackie's Back!, 2h
Directed by Robert Townsend
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Documentary, Musical
Actors Jenifer Lewis, Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Tangie Ambrose, Loretta Devine, David Hyde Pierce
Rating70% 3.541783.541783.541783.541783.54178
Presented as a mockumentary, Jackie's Back chronicles the life and career of Jackie Washington (Jenifer Lewis), a 1960s/1970s R&B diva. After several years of toiling in obscurity, Washington decides to organize her own comeback concert with filmmaker Edward Whatsett St. John (Tim Curry) filming the event. The film also features numerous cameo appearances by celebrities.