I'm sure there are those who will think this film is stupid or boring, but those of us who care about the way the world moves will sense more than what it shows.
In an interview, Godfrey Reggio (director) said, "For some people it's an environmental film, some people it's an ode to technology, for some people it's a piece of shit, for other people it moves them deeply."
You have to have a commitment to watching the entire lengthy film, uninterrupted, remaining conscious, allowing your thoughts to arise and subside, without judgment, or just watching that judgment. At the completion of the film, your consciousness will be seriously altered, by just watching. Watching this movie is an experience, beyond intellect. You just watch, because you committed to do so, and see where you end up. It is worth the effort.
I see people who all are thinking something; What do they dream of? Are they happy? Are they in hurry? Is this the life they wanted? Is this remarkable moment in their lives? When normal people can be captured on a film & be played forever? Is it like winning death? There are a a lot of hazzle on the streets. People don't seem to stop, think & enjoy themselves. To me this music represents somehow the simple desperation of living. We all just try to be happy, but then again we can't, we always need something else. Like in this clip, no one is smiling. There are a lot of people, but then again we're all alone with ourselves. There's a huge crowd of people, but they all seem the same. But maybe the main idea of this movie was to make a epic clip of humanity's achievements?
I somewhat agree with this comment, however, people not smiling doesn't mean they aren't happy, and people shouldn't always be happy, sometimes we have to feel sad, angry,etc. I know a lot about psychology, and I've learned its unhealthy to always force yourself to be happy, of course, you want to be happy when you can, but sometimes you just need to let it all out, you know? I have to thank you for posting this comment however, it had made me think about being more open. I have the mindset that you could be great friends with near everyone if you just talked to them and got to know them really well.
What is brilliant about this photography is that it makes you really look at the things and people being photographed. I learned a LOT about photography from this film.
This is one of the best 3minutes on RU-vid. Everyone who wants to know anything about modern life, or 1980s USA should see this and everyone else should see it anyway. The cuts between these faces are my favourite part of Koyaanisquatsi and for me the most poignant apart from the shocking finale.
@@johnspooner1403 mental illness @ john. put the puzzle together of his comment and you can tell what it is. Its either mental illness and you totally understand but cannot comprehend. Or you are just one of the sheeple out there. who cares. For your health.
@@johnspooner1403 It's basically a metaphor of how humanity's "aim for the stars" might backfire if we're not careful and humble ourselves. At least that's one of the interpretations I have.
The illusion that we’re going to last forever and that this is immortal. The bright ads and the drunk carelessness of Vegas will crumble with us and all that will be left is an ocean of plastic leftovers from an age of gluttony and overconsumption.
This music and movie just reveal all the grand illusion of our species, our kind. Not only light illusion, or words illusion or the commercial at 1:30, its all about our way of life as a civilization, we are unbalanced and blinded ...
those women staring... had no idea they would be staring into so many people.. they creep me out.. atleast the dark haired one.. and the blonde.. and the 2nd from the left..
It doesn't look or sound the same when you're out there in the midst of it, does it? And I don't just mean that it's 30 or 40 years after the footage was shot, either.
Seeing stuff like this showing the mode of dress and all the "styles" of things in the mid to late 70's and early 80's makes me glad we changed all of them. LOL! :) But it's always cool to see things of a particular era; it's like it's reminding us that that era has a time and place in history, just like this one will.
The pilot scene is fantastic. He's everything a fighter pilot actually is. Deadly serious, wouldn't hesitate to drop a nuclear weapon if ordered to do so.
This scene always really impacted me. Although "The Grand Illusion" was a fairly major play, I do wonder if in the context of this movie it is being used a statement about life and how people live.
It absolutely is. The director of the film could have used any multitude of billboards at the time but he chose THAT billboard. I think it absolutely has meaning.
The illusion is that everyone thinks that this system is stable but it’s bound to fail at any time now. I also interpret it as the illusion that we’re satisfied with this structure of living.
yo how real can this actually get. have a BARREL of fun in todays society is def what people are coming to. it is a grand illusion and its my displeasure to share this existence with you things. we should deny our programming.
Seth K I believe it’s a giant OTB (off track betting) place near Times Square. My grandfather would place bets there, and he’s in this scene, which I discovered accidentally while watching this classic movie on PBS. He’s at 1:30 in, the Big Guy in the yellow shirt and blazer. He was awesome. The grand illusion is that he was a gentle giant:)).
@@pearlyd1673 That's great! Since first seeing this at a very young age on VHS in the 80s, I was often curious about the individuals immortalised in Koyaanisqatsi's scenes. Who they were, what they were doing etc.
I often wonder what became of all these people. Are any still alive? Were/Are they happy? Did they ever go to see themselves up there, on the big screen? Could they sense the connection to those, many not yet born, who would look into their eyes 40 years later and feel something?
@Trotsky87 Dont do it. We must be strong. We must resist the temptation to absorb its essence. The longer we do it... the bigger and the stronger its significance will be. (But it is never easy) :)
Most of them are dead. I wonder which ones could lay off the KFC and smokes and eat right and exercise, and time travel, one day at a time, to the year 2014?
@@rixille and how different are we? Free will? Dont make me laugh. If anything, I think we are worse off than ants in that sense since our eusocial structure is not well developed nor well structured.
Life really beats you down over time. One day, You feel like you don't ever want to die and over time you're starting to be glad that you will eventually die. God? . . .No god.
My comments keep getting taken down. Read them whilst you can... The full film shows, on three occasions, the clear and blatant legacy of the Alien Wars that are being fought on a near daily basis around you/us on Planet Earth. There are instances in the full film that show dead aliens...scenes that show 'people' walking through one another... scenes that show the physics you are taught at 'skool' is but part of the 'Grand Illusion'... scenes that show Aliens among us... and scenes that show the complacency of the "Rich Man's Trick" that fools us all. Wake up. Unplug. Your life is a lie. Wake up. Unplug.
Exactly. Watch on psychedelics. Once your brain's bias is removed you will see what this film intended, in plain sight, to be seen. People walking through each other. The charade of 'whole' bodies. Non-Human entities. Watchers. Wake up. The Matrix is Real. See this film as just beautiful cinematography and it is 'WHOOOSH' above your head. Unplug and this is how the world really is. Unplug and you will be one of the very few that see what is REALLY going on. The single Universe you happen to be aware of is but one of an infinite variation of infinite multiverses of which each of your infinite vibrational frequencies are experiencing at each and every moment of the Big Bang. Wake Up. The Matrix is Real. Unplug.
Absolutely true. People that have grown up with TV and Mass Media have no concept whatsoever of the Grand Illusion. Over 80% of Humans have no issue that 9/11 was a pre-laid demolition... but in the USofA and the UK 80% think the three buildings that collapsed were brought down by the two innocuous, comparatively small, passenger jets that hit just two buildings. The connection... The two "Most Plugged-Into_Mass-Media" countries on the planet!!
Sir William Courtenay Dude, First off, no one can keep a secret, not even who had an affair with who. Lawyers don’t keep secrets of politicians who sleep around. Do you seriously think that no one would have stepped forward by now to produce actual evidence of participation, even anonymously? Also, do you seriously think that Americans of a great enough number to plan and set all these explosives would be party to killing their countrymen on those jets just to have the illusion it was someone else?!? I was in the military and there is no one, and I mean no one that would follow such an order. The structural engineer took the WTC girder failure personally. Fueled Passenger jets on kamikaze stuka dives have the power of extremely large bombs. Have you seen what one plane did to Lockerby Scotland? And that was not running at full throttle. Did you actually see the videos of the impact? The whole building shook violently. Those buildings had a few structural supports in the interior and they were compromised. Skyscrapers are not made to both hold the floors up AND take a direct hit by a fueled jet. I’ve seen the interviews. The fire supression material was blown off the cross members. Americans are not orders of magnitude more evil than these terrorists, sorry you sick clown. I have a close relative that was a first responder there on 9/11 and none of them believe this horse$hit.
@@sirwilliamcourtenay9395 mister courtenay, cease your investigations immediately. We will install a 5G memory eraser outside your home and if that fails we will swiftly bring you under grey alien custody and you will be captured by the men in black. Thank you for your cooperation and we hope you enjoyed your stay in civilisation(tm).
"As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.…" Matthew 24:37-39
