Koyaanisqatsi might rival Marshall McLuhan as one of the most obnoxious conversation topics you can overhear at the cinema, but hear me out, because it’s so much better than it sounds. It’s the first in a trilogy of films that could be thought of as documentaries without a clear story line — more like creative nonfiction than straightforward documentation — that director Godfrey Reggio called a “visual tone poem.” You still with me? I know it sounds like a tough watch, but think of how hypnotic the best moments of Planet Earth are, and how easily every type of audience, from stoners and frat kids to grandparents and schoolchildren, can all get behind it. Koyaanisqatsi is like that. Cinematographer Ron Fricke captures footage of people, cities and nature that rolls along in both slow-motion and time-lapse sequences with a Philip Glass score. (You can almost imagine a young Christopher Nolan taking notes from the sidelines.) Put simply, Koyaanisqatsi is more entertaining than any film without dialogue or narration has any business being, and seeing it at the Belcourt is the best way I can think of to spend a Monday night. LAURA HUTSON
Koyaanisqatsi
