Via Orin Kerr, I learn that Koyaanisqatsi, the movie version of one of my better-liked and more-played CD's is now available on YouTube – all 1:26:04 of it!
I like Philip Glass's music. But I've rarely gone for visual pairings with either Glass or Eno or other music of that modernist, and sometimes minimalist, sort. I know that Koyaanisqatsi came into being as a film score, but to me it's always been a musical composition deracinated from film. I liked Einstein on the Beach when I saw it at its first revival at BAM (even though it was far from new, a decent fraction, maybe 10%, of the audience walked out after the first part, which amazed me); that alone has been a somewhat harder to listen to without the visual, perhaps because it is so long and has so much repetition and near-repetition.
But anyway, something to watch as soon as I have a spare hour and half. Whenever that is: We got a TV for the first time about a year ago, and I though, that's it, we'll be TV zombies, our intellectual lives are over. Hasn't worked out that way: I hardly ever watch it except when folding laundry, and the very occasional taped episodes of Stewart or Colbert.
Although, to be fair, the hard drive on the DVR is filling up with old movies and new episodes of things I plan to watch Real Soon Now ™.
Have you seen Baraka? It’s directed by Koyaanisqatsi’s cinematographer. There’s some really beautiful timelapse photography combined with motion-controlled camerawork. Sorry to be duplicitous if NetFlicks already told you this 😉
Koyaanisqatsi was also used quite effectively in a scene of the recent movie Watchmen.
I’ve been a fan of Glass for a while now, especially The Photographer, Solo Piano, Metamorphosis, and the stuff he did with Uakti, but I hadn’t really gotten into much else until I heard the trailer for Watchmen and recognized Koyaanisqatsi (though I didn’t know its name at the time) as a Glass piece. Now my interest has been revitalized and I’m in way over my head! I really appreciate this post, though I probably won’t get around to watching the video until after your final!