Editing Naqoyqatsi

{{Short description|2002 film by Godfrey Reggio}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Naqoyqatsi
| image = Naqoyqatsi poster.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| director = [[Godfrey Reggio]]
| producer = [[Steven Soderbergh]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Naqoyqatsi-Blu-ray/55790/|title=Naqoyqatsi Blu-ray|via=www.blu-ray.com}}</ref><br>Joe Beirne<br>Godfrey Reggio<br>[[Lawrence Taub]]
| writer = Godfrey Reggio
| music = [[Philip Glass]]
| cinematography = Russell Lee Fine
| editing = [[Jon Kane]]
| studio = Qatsi Productions
| distributor = [[Miramax Films]]
| released = {{Film date|2002|10|18}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flickchart.com/movie/30044442EC|title=Naqoyqatsi|via=www.flickchart.com}}</ref>
| runtime = 89 minutes<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/films/28418-naqoyqatsi|title=Naqoyqatsi|website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref>
| country = United States
| budget = $3 million
}}
'''''Naqoyqatsi'''''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|n|ɑː|ˈ|k|ɔɪ|ˌ|k|ɑː|t|s|i}} {{respell|nah|KOY|kaht|SEE}}; {{langx|hop|Naqö̀yqatsi|links=no}} {{IPA|hop|naˈqœjˌqat͡si|}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Hopi Dictionary Project|title=Hopi Dictionary|year=1998|publisher=[[University of Arizona Press]]|location=Tucson|isbn=0-8165-1789-4|section=Spelling and pronunciation|page=863-4|trans-title=Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni|url=https://archive.org/details/hopidictionaryho0000unse/|url-access=registration|accessdate=March 10, 2024|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>}} is a 2002 American [[non-narrative film]] directed by [[Godfrey Reggio]] and edited by [[Jon Kane]], with music composed by [[Philip Glass]]. It is the third and final installment in the [[Qatsi trilogy|''Qatsi'' trilogy]].

The title comes from the [[Hopi language|Hopi]] word {{lang|hop|[[wikt:naqö̀yqatsi|naqö̀yqatsi]]}} meaning "life of war". In the film's closing credits, the title is also translated as "civilized violence" and "a life of killing each other".<ref name="qatsi.org">{{cite web|url=http://qatsi.org/films/naqoyqatsi.php|title=Naqoyqatsi Definitions|work=Koyaanisqatsi.org|publisher=Institute for Regional Education|access-date=August 24, 2011}}</ref>

==Synopsis==
According to Reggio, the film has no screenplay per se, but three movements (like [[movement (music)|those of a symphony]]) with different themes:<ref name=rottentomatoes>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/naqoyqatsi/ Rotten Tomatoes website]: Reviews and long article on Naqoyqatsi, with input and quotations from Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass</ref>

# '''Numerica.com:''' Language and place gives way to numerical code and virtual reality.
# '''Circus maximus:''' Competition, winning, records, fame, “fair play” and the love of money are elevated to the prime values of life. Life becomes a game.
# '''Rocketship twentieth century:''' A world that language can no longer describe. The resulting explosive tempo of technology is war and civilized violence.

==Production==
The [[September 11 attacks]] against the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] took place very close to the film's production studio, impacting the content of the film and further convincing the crew of the importance of its subject.<ref name=rottentomatoes/>

While ''[[Koyaanisqatsi]]'' and ''[[Powaqqatsi]]'' examine modern life in industrial countries and the conflict between encroaching industrialization and traditional ways of life, using slow motion and time-lapse footage of cities and natural landscapes, about eighty percent of ''Naqoyqatsi'' uses archive footage and stock images manipulated and processed digitally on [[non-linear editing]] (non-sequential) [[workstation]]s and intercut with specially-produced [[computer-generated imagery]] to demonstrate society's transition from a natural environment to a technology-based one. Reggio described the process as "[[Virtual reality|virtual]] cinema".<ref name=rottentomatoes/>

==Music==
{{Infobox album
| name         = Naqoyqatsi
| type         = soundtrack
| artist       = [[Philip Glass]]
| released     = October 8, 2002
| label        = [[Sony Masterworks]]
}}
The music is more in the traditional [[orchestra]]l tradition than much of Glass's work as a familiar doorway to images so disconnected from the familiar world. One [[musical instrument|instrument]], the [[cello]] played by [[Yo-Yo Ma]], plays through much of the piece. Some non-orchestral instruments are used in addition to traditional ones, including a [[didgeridoo]] and an [[electronic music|electronically-created]] [[Jew's harp|jaw harp]].<ref name=rottentomatoes/>

Soundtrack.net reviewer Glenn McClanan noted that unlike the previous two films, the music is more on the softer side.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.soundtrack.net/album/naqoyqatsi/|title=Naqoyqatsi Soundtrack (2002)|website=www.soundtrack.net}}</ref>{{track listing
| headline = ''Naqoyqatsi: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2002)
| title1 = Naqoyqatsi
| length1 = 7:56
| title2 = Primacy of the Number
| length2 = 6:52
| title3 = Massman
| length3 = 9:48
| title4 = New World
| length4 = 3:04
| title5 = Religion
| length5 = 9:01
| title6 = Media Weather
| length6 = 7:54
| title7 = Old World
| length7 = 3:08
| title8 = Intensive Time
| length8 = 8:09
| title9 = Point Blank
| length9 = 11:17
| title10 = The Vivid Unknown
| length10 = 7:08
| title11 = Definition
| length11 = 2:50
| total_length = 79:17
}}

==Release and reception==
The film was released on DVD by Miramax on October 14, 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/438418/naqoyqatsi#articles-reviews|title=Naqoyqatsi (2002) - Home Video Reviews - TCM.com|website=Turner Classic Movies}}</ref><ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Naqoyqatsi-Belladonna/dp/B00005JLIA/ref=tmm_dvd_title_1?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Amazon.com]</ref>

[[The Criterion Collection]] released this as part of the Qatsi trilogy on December 11, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/58160/qatsi-trilogy-the/|title=The Qatsi Trilogy (Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi / Naqoyqatsi) - Criterion Collection (Blu-ray)|website=DVD Talk}}</ref>

[[Rotten Tomatoes]] reported that 48% out of 52 reviews were positive with the average score of 5.82/10, and the consensus saying that it is "the weakest film in Reggio's trilogy".<ref name="rottent">{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/naqoyqatsi/ |title=Naqoyqatsi (Naqoyqatsi: Life as War) (2002) - Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=2013-04-26 |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[Koyaanisqatsi]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Chronos (film)|Chronos]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Powaqqatsi]]'' (1988)
* ''[[Baraka (film)|Baraka]]'' (1992)
* ''[[Samsara (2011 film)|Samsara]]'' (2011)

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Listen
|filename=Philip Glass-Naqoyqatsi.ogg
|title=Music by Philip Glass
|description=From ''Naqoyqatsi'' by [[Philip Glass]]}}
* [http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org The Trilogy's Home Page]
* {{IMDb title|0145937}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2592-the-qatsi-trilogy-celebration-and-warning ''The Qatsi Trilogy: Celebration and Warning''] an essay by Scott MacDonald at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Qatsi trilogy}}
{{Philip Glass}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2002 films]]
[[Category:2000s avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:2002 documentary films]]
[[Category:American avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Philip Glass]]
[[Category:Films without speech]]
[[Category:Films directed by Godfrey Reggio]]
[[Category:Non-narrative films]]
[[Category:American collage films]]
[[Category:American documentary films]]
[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:Qatsi trilogy]]