Naqoyqatsi (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Life Is War Featurette-Music Of Naqoyqatsi:Conversation With PhilipGlass & Yo-Yo Ma Trailer-Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi Featurette-NYU Panel Discussion
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	85:41
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (74:00)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Godfrey Reggio
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Marlon Brando Elton John Julia Louis-Dreyfus Bhagwan Mirchandani Steven Soderbergh Troy Aikman The Beatles Fidel Castro Warren Christopher Bill Clinton Thomas A. Edison Albert Einstein Adolf Hitler
Case	?
RPI	$34.95	Music	Philip Glass

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	German	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    This film is the last in a trilogy of films by filmmaker Godfrey Reggio and modern classical composer Phillip Glass. It uses images set to music to send a message about the state of the world in which we live. The first two films in this trilogy were very highly regarded from a critical perspective and have long been on my list of films that I would like to see. Despite not having seen the previous films, I was still keen to review this one to find out what the excitement was all about. Unfortunately, it is my impression based upon the trailers here for the other two films that this one is not up to the same standard. Call me a philistine if you like, but I just didn't 'get it'.

    Naqoyqatsi is a word from the Hopi Indian language which basically means 'war as a way of life'. Two alternate translations are also offered at the end of the film itself. The film features images of technology, soldiers, political leaders, religions, ideologies, industrial development, pollution, business, celebrities, violent computer games, civil unrest and much more. Most of the imagery has been digitally changed or is shown in a negative style. This is a major point of differentiation between this and the earlier films as these would seem to be much more realistic in their presentation of images. I felt that some of the images did not seem to fit well with the theme or the other images presented. It was quite abstract and 'arty'.

    On the other hand, the music by Phillip Glass is magnificent and features the warm and moving tones of Yo-Yo Ma's solo cello. To me, this film seems more like an extended abstract music video for the music rather than a cohesive comment on modern society.

    So, an abstract and difficult film accompanied by some amazingly beautiful music.

Video

    The video quality is difficult to review due to the nature of the imagery presented but does not seem to have any issues caused by the transfer.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is close to the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.At some points the images appear to be stretched to fit the widescreen frame but this would seem to be a part of the original presentation based upon reading I have done.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise.

    The colour when used (which is probably only half of the running time) is well rendered although quite often the colours are not natural by design, for example a green giraffe running on an orange plain.

    There were no noticeable artefacts of any kind except one spot of minor aliasing on hats at 11:30.

    There are subtitles in German which seem to only translate English words appearing on the screen as there is no dialogue.

    The layer change occurs at approximately 74:00 within chapter 10 but I did not notice it during playback.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is excellent, rendering the music extremely well.

    This DVD contains one audio option, a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s.

    There is no dialogue.

    The music by Phillip Glass is wonderful as mentioned above and was the highlight for me. It includes some orchestral instrumentation, the solo cello of Yo-Yo Ma and some vocal chants of the title.

    The surround speakers added to the music and featured the vocal chanting which was quite effective. The soundtrack is quite immersive.

     The subwoofer added nicely integrated bass to the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu was simple, included stills from the film and the ability to select chapters.

Behind the Scenes Featurette (1:34)

    A very short piece of interview footage with Stephen Soderbergh and the director, Godfrey Reggio interspersed with footage from the film.

Music of Naqoyqatsi (7:04)

    A reasonably interesting interview with the composer, Phillip Glass and the solo cellist Yo-Yo Ma about the music.

Koyaaniqatsi Trailer (2:22)

    A trailer for the original film featuring much more interesting footage than is included in the feature here. The music is excellent.

Powaqqatsi Trailers (2:05)

    Two short trailers for the second film in the trilogy which again feature interesting footage and music.

NYU Panel Discussion (54:28)

    A panel discussion held at New York University before the film opened featuring John Rockwell, the Arts & Entertainment editor of the NY Times, the film's editor, Jon Kane, the director, Godfrey Reggio and the composer, Phillip Glass. Discussion covers the naming of the films, sourcing of the footage, how Reggio and Glass work together collaboratively and the themes addressed in each of the 3 films. Reggio admits that this film is the most difficult of the three to get into. This would certainly be of interest to fans of the trilogy, however it is a bit dull visually.

    The Region 1 release of this film is in the same format except for PAL/NTSC differences. Go with whatever you can find cheapest.

    The video has no discernible issues.

    The audio quality is excellent.

    The disc has a selection of relevant extras which would be of interest to fans of this film or its two prequels.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall