Denise Bedwell’s HUM210 Blog

The Third Annual MCC International Film Festival

     The featured film maker was Godfrey Reggio, who was both writer and director of The Qatsi Trilogy. The first movie was Koyaanisqatsi, to me this film was about the way that we have destroyed our land. The beginning of the film was all shots of nature. There were mountains, shadows of clouds and water. I thought that this was the most peaceful part of the movie, the music was soft and pretty, and went well with what was on the screen. The next half of the film was harsher. The music was much louder and faster, which made sense with what was on the screen at that time. There were pictures of  machinery such as a tractors and lots of cars. There were shots of people in the city and traffic on the highways moving in fast forward. There were also pictures of buildings being imploded in slow motion, the music would slow down during this. I think that Reggio was trying to make a statement with his music choice. When it was showing the busy streets of the city with all of the people and the shots of the traffic, the music is very fast and loud. When the music is like this it makes you feel anxious and annoyed, kind of like the way you feel when fighting a crowd or driving in traffic. I do think that the film felt a little long when he repeated many of the scenes. For example the buildings were shown over and over again along with the people and the traffic, and in the beginning with the mountains, and there was so much of the same scenery being shown.  To be completely honest I couldn’t wait for it to end. I left the theatre exhausted, and was dreading coming to the next film the following night.
      The second film was Powaqqatsi, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing this film, but was pleasantly surprised. This film was filmed in a number of different countries, capturing the beauty, the hard work, and the struggles in every one. The men, women and even children are such hard workers they work from dusk until dawn just to survive. They are all so different from the United States, from the housing structures to the clothing and the mannerisms of the people. I was so taken by what I was watching, I really don’t even remember what type of music was playing. I think that this film had more of a documentary feel to it. I  really enjoyed this movie and it got my very excited about the last film.
     The third and final film was Naqoyqatsi. I was and still am a little confused to what this was about. I believe it is about war and everyday struggles in life. I am confused because I feel that there were a few things that I didn’t feel belonged, if that were the point of the film. For example the part with all of the naked babies (creepy). There were a lot of different things to take in, like the different symbols and lots of numbers. One part had a lot of famous people in a wax museum, I though it to be entertaining to see if I knew who they were. There were a few parts in this particular film that made me very sad. One of them was a man being beaten while he just sat on the ground and did not fight back, not even when he was kicked in the head. This film also had more of a computer feel to it, there were a few parts with computer graphics and computer animation. If I had to pick a favorite of the three, I would pick Powaqqatsi, because I enjoy watching and learning about different cultures.
     After all three of the films Godfrey Reggio took time to answer any questions about the movie. He had a lot of people who loved his films and took the few criticisms he had with stride. I think that he is a very interesting person who has seen a lot of amazing things in his life. After one of the films someone asked him if he had ever considered writing a book, he answered “no, but maybe I should.” I really hope that he does I would definitely buy it. I have never been to a film festival before, and after attending this one I don’t think that it will be my last. It was an interesting and great experience.
 

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