Blog # 5

The film Koyaanisqatsi produced by Godfrey Reggio in 1983 is a film with no dialogue. It’s a film that only has music. This is such a unique way to produce a film that not many people would think of doing. This type of film really forces you to watch the film in a way that normally isn’t watched.


To watch a film with no words/dialogue the film has to be looked at from a different perspective. Most times when people watch a movie they follow the plot line of the film through the dialect of the different characters. The audience also has to come up with the plot or message based of the images that are produced. This already changes the way the movie requires you to view it compared to a narrative film. Typically while watching a narrative film the eyesight automatically zones in on the person talking just like in real life. When a person is talking you look at them. However in a movie like Koyaanisqatsi the eyesight has nowhere to zone in on, therefore the audience looks everywhere, allowing the audience to take in all the art and hard work that went into producing the film. It allows the audience to look at the different affects and the quality of the movie. One affect in particular that is used in this film that helps shape and make the movie is the lighting. Most times that is something we skip over our eyes are too focused on who is talking, but when you have nothing set to look at like the person talking then your eyes can wonder and appreciate the small things that make a movie and to also recognize how much work went into it.


Another way this film really forces the audience to view this movie differently is the fact that they now have to listen to the music to set the mood and speed of the movie. In this type of film it’s the music that makes the story instead of words. Music can speak to someone in so many different ways and can make different people have different emotions. A person has to come up with their own interpretation of the film. When watching a typical narrative film there is normally always music but that’s not the main focus point therefore attention isn’t brought to it. However with that being the only sound that is being made that is where attention is brought forcing the audience to interpret the music in some way, which is a change for most.


This is very discomforting to most. Most people don’t like having to come up with something on their own. They don’t like having to think out of the box to come up with some sort of story. They don’t go to watch a movie and have to make up the story themselves they watch it for the storyline already created. They feel that its difficult and challenging and when people are forced into that type of situation they find it discomforting. Most people also find discomfort in the fact that there are no words. Now a day everything is about talking to so and so having to do such and such that they barely have time to sit and relax and not have sound except for music. They find that in a way its a type of silence and so many people find discomfort in silence.


I however did not find the movie discomforting at all. I actually found it very enjoyable. I liked being challenged in having to look at this movie in a different perspective than I was accustomed to. I also enjoyed having the opportunity to see the work that went into the movie with out it being pointed out to me because I was not distracted by characters and dialogue. I also like the fact the way I saw the movie and the plot line I came up with may be different from a person who watched it at the same time because there is no set plot its what ever you make of it. So yes it makes you view the movie differently then that of a narrative film but it also makes you think more creatively and out of the box. Puts you out of that comfort zone and makes you think for yourself.