ABSTRACT
It depends entirely on what type of film is being referred to here, and so we are already getting into specifics and not universality. Some films are more “universal” as they are purely about reading the images (and music) as opposed to having to follow dialogue and a narrative text: Godfrey Reggio’s trilogy (Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance [1982]; Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation [1988]; and Naqoyqatsi: Life as War [2002]) comes to mind. For example, the viewer can be led by the hypnotic narrative flow offered by Philip Glass’s music and the diverse images of humanity or nature depicting aspects of beauty, deprivation or global destruction. A deeper understanding of the trilogy is, however, enhanced by having knowledge of the films’ focus on the complex relationship between man and nature.
