A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Score
Philip Glass at his most aggressively propulsive—your neurons will thank you
Editing
Time-lapse warfare: cities devouring themselves in strobing beauty
Cinematography
Stock footage alchemy—Reggio turns garbage into gold
Director
Godfrey Reggio
Marlon Brando
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Elton John
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Madonna
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bill Clinton
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Fidel Castro
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Martin Luther King Jr.
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ronald Reagan
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Paul McCartney
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ringo Starr
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
George Harrison
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
John Lennon
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mao Zedong
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Vladimir Lenin
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the only Qatsi film not shot primarily by Ron Fricke; Reggio used almost entirely archival and stock footage due to budget constraints after 9/11 disrupted financing.
The title comes from Hopi meaning 'life as war' or 'life of killing each other'—Reggio intended it as prophecy, not history.
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