Powaqqatsi

the simple into the phenomenal, the static into the dynamic, the two dimensional into the three dimensional, and can be looked at through the lens of Gestalt psychology--the concept that the work as a whole is different from the sum of its individual parts. Based on the current, Western perception of progress, society can be broken into collections of nations and regions that form pseudo classes or castes--the most distinct being the Emerging Countries and the Western Industrialized nations. Life is not only different from its parts, it is something more, something deeper, something greater than the sum; artists express this depth that would not otherwise be seen through a multitude of media--in particular Godfrey Reggio’s “music video,” Powaqqatsi, and Vivaldi’s musical composition, “The Four Seasons.” An understanding of society comes together with an examination of its components in close proximity. Reggio’s film begins in the Emerging Countries. Upbeat music plays while masses of smiling faces appear, followed by women in unique, decorative green and red dresses celebrating and men shouldering bags larger than themselves: a hopeful, jubilant celebration of hard work, tradition, and nature. Quickly the scenes morph into images of the Industrialized World. Sameness scrolls across the screen as a whitewashed, endless building. The music speeds into a warlike beat as old commercials burn, overlapped with flames, which shifts again to a packed stadium, the individual people…

was portrayed in The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was very similar to the message shown in the film Powaqqatsi directed by Godfrey Reggio. Even though The Great Gatsby and Powaqqatsi are not the same type of art, they both show that humans are regularly thinking about moving forward, instead of simply appreciating what they have. Comparing the two media help answer: Which personality…

the groundwork of society is extremely limited. The film Powaqqatsi directed by Godfrey Reggio and the painting “Alley By The Lake” by Leonid Afremov both illustrate that, while technology does influence minor cultural characteristics and the “appearance” of a society, the foundations and major precedents including religion, positive interaction, and hard work remain uniform across time. The movie Powaqqatsi starts with the simple depiction of gold…

Comparison Essay In the first scene of Powaqqatsi, there were men walking against the grain of people down the hill. In the Last Supper, Jesus is going against what everyone says and is following God, which many don’t believe in. In the movie, the men are struggling; they are dirty, and working hard to go against the other people. They are very obviously struggling as Jesus did, and simularly, they keep a strong front. They push through as he did. In his lifetime, Jesus showed that he was the…

Humans, animals, technology, and this planet, are constantly changing and adapting to their surroundings. Life goes on despite the extent of the change, just as the train represents time moving non stop past the tree, that represents life in the movie. The film Powaqqatsi by Godfrey Reggio, displays great change over time to the new industry that erodes the traditional ways of several countries. Transitioning from a slow motion opening scene to a rapid ending pace, the film uses facial…