Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi, or Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music by Phillip Glass. This is the first in the Qatsi trilogy, which has an official page. This film is stunning to watch and listen to. Really beautiful. But strangely depressing. I found this movie through a list of obscure science fiction films, but this is not science fiction in any sense I know of. It's arguably an art film.

I watched it on Hulu, which used to have some free offerings.

It's listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, which concludes: "The ongoing appeal of Koyaanisqatsi shows how well he [the director] succeeded." Slant Magazine says, "The film's synergy of natural beauty and urban decay contemplates a "life out of balance" yet director Godfrey Reggio is seemingly intoxicated with the very blight he questions." Roger Ebert describes it as "an invitation to knee-jerk environmentalism of the most sentimental kind" but also calls it "an impressive visual and listening experience". Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 89%.