Hey there, Harry here... From time to time I am astounded that certain filmmakers are not simply sponsored as being pure artists. Sure film is an expensive medium, but take Godfrey Reggio for example. Here is a filmmaker of unquestionable brilliance. KOYAANISQATSI and POWAQQATSI are widely held as being two of the most poignantly beautiful and pure works of cinema made in the history of the medium. Now, Godfrey is attempting to finish his trilogy with NAQOYAQATSI and is running into funding problems. His films have been adored by the highest paid of filmmakers, the most regarded of film critics... but because he chooses to be an artist reflecting the world as he sees it, instead of being a traditional Hollywood Filmmaker... Well, we may never see the trilogy come to a close. I love KOYAANISQATSI completely. It is a transcendent film that I lose myself in every viewing. POWAQQATSI has a sadness that can be unpleasant to watch, especially within the third world exploitation. But what themes would we see Reggio explore if NAQOYQATSI were to ever be financed? Well, NAQOYQATSI means 'civilized violence' or well... This is how Reggio describes the third film in the series:
Yes. Part three will be called Naqoyqatsi. Naqo means war, qatsi means life, so it means a way of life as war. It will be a historical film, co-authored with Philip Glass, thus making a total integration of our capacities. It will try to establish that civilization and it's appendages, empire, Kingdom, and now the local manifestation of nation/state, is intrinsically involved with war. War is not just involved in the overt military activities, but intrinsic to the nature of centralized complex societies, that in fact it provides stability to the society, it gives legitimacy to the nation/state to rule, and if we should ever be hit by peace, we would in fact destabilize society as we know it and we probably wouldn't have a nation/state, we'd probably have to have smaller, decentralized forms. I'm all for the breakdown of nations. The film will also show that peace is a process of war, that countries like Great Britain, since it's founding with the Magna Carta, For every 100 years of existence, it's been at war for 56. That's true for France, Russia, all nation/states. I'll try to show that all of our supposed treasures, progress, modernity, development, all the things we count on, are the result of a warlife. That point of view has been consistent in the entire history of civilization.
It will also try to show that the ideas of African Genesis, Lorenz on aggression, Kubrick's Clockwork Orange and 2001 are really manifestations of the idea, that I totally reject, that inside our nature is written, inescapably, a killer that we inherit from our so called animal ancestors. It's very shoddy biology as far as I'm concerned.
The film is currently in pre-production. Again Phillip Glass is on board and they await only the financing to move forward. And hopefully a filmmaker or a producer or a studio with an eye for significant work will reach out and help Reggio complete his trilogy.
