Naqoyqatsi: Life as War

Before watching this film, I had heard rumors that it was a non-speaking, music-oriented film about the destruction of humanity by technology. After watching it,  I had discovered so much more than that. It was hard to focus all my attention on the film, for an hour and half of straight listening to music while strange, sometimes distorted or ominous pictures flash across the screen can be tedious, I was able to grasp a little about what I thought the director was trying to produce. It's not so much about the downfall of humans by technology, but about how humans have evolved over time, and how they've learned how to destroy themselves. It's a part of life, though. We use our resources to live and to die. Wars happen, births happen, it's all part of the circle of life.

The music by Philip Glass provided an emotional scene to the film. It enabled the viewer to feel the hardships, highlights, and/or importance of each major event. Many times the music, and the computer generated images, reminded me of the flight scenes in the 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can. In that film, every time Leonardo DiCaprio fled from the FBI, jumping from one job to the next, leading a huge trail of check fraud, John Williams had a fantastic arrangement of music, such as this. He managed to keep the viewer feeling the tension of how something was about to happen, whether good or bad. Glass did the same. His music tied together the pictures of how people brought about their own downfall, while keeping the emotional sense of excitement for what was to come. I kind of enjoyed the film, even though it was a little too long for my taste.

Here's more music from Philip Glass, from the film The Hours: