In
THIS recent thread a little tangent involving this disc began, which is better continued here, since this is evidently something of a controversial DVD-A title. Hadn't played it in some time, so with the snow and ice around us, figured I'd spend an evening revisiting it.
First of all, have to say that KOYAANISQATSI is one impressive--and subversive--film experience. Although director Godfrey Reggio obviously was showcasing the negative aspects of 'progress' and our consumer-driven modern civilization, it was also obvious that--regardless of using time-lapse photography to suggest mindless pursuits, the rat race, consumerism, life out of balance (the subtitle of the film), etc.--and other passages to indicate our destruction of nature (more imbalance), there was also a certain beauty to things like skyscrapers and cityscapes. That may not have been intended, but that's the fascination of the film: the open-minded viewer can find something new and revealing with every viewing.
The music was composed starting in 1981 by Philip Glass, who has built a career on minimalist but mesmerizing instrumental and ensemble music (at the time, he was also working on variations on the same thematics that would become GLASSWORKS, issued first and released on CBS in 1982). His score for KOYAANISQATSI, and the film, were finally released in 1984 to, as expected, very mixed reviews. But since the film is essentially silent, it is Glass' score--either synced to the images or the images synced to the score, take your pick--that adds the necessary emotional depth, intensity, and cacophony that makes up a cinematic experience.
In the better theaters you got Dolby Surround--a basic 3-channel mix. The VHS, Beta and Laserdisc editions were also Dolby Surround. An edited stereophonic vinyl and tape edition was issued as an import on Antilles, an Island subsidiary label. More recently, the DVD edition of the film has the Dolby Surround somewhat altered for 5.1. Unfortunately, since it's not a full remix from the soundtrack tapes, it lacks the power of the original DS.
This DVD-A edition is a rerecording made for Elektra, and expands upon the album version, and includes all the important music passages. The sound quality is superb, with deep rumbling bass to sharp highs and full dynamic range.
The mix, however....is, ultimately, very disappointing. The only word I can use for it is
conservative. And for a film of this unusual type and style--and given who the composer is--that was NOT the approach that should have been taken.
Curiously, it begins promisingly. The title track, with a basso profundo singer repeating the title word, is admittedly ambient but effective, and at a few points the volume shifts from fronts to backs, and in a theater, and as a setup for what's to come, it works. But then opportunity after opportunity is missed to isolate voices, strings, and keyboards in ways that not only would have made a great 5.1 experience, but would have, if anything, expanded the power of the performance and aided (had this been used for a rerelease of the film) to give the movie even more intensity and force.
So, what happened? Since those who supervised and arranged the music from the beginning also did the same for this redo, they must have mixed the album to sound as if you were listening to them at a concert (think Carnegie Hall), and therefore mixed to a more ambient than isolated, discrete style. And at an enclosed concert venue this mix is pretty much what I'd have expected to hear. If this had been a concert disc, I'd have less issue with the mix, but it isn't, and thus, with its clattering, busy indiscreteness (although there are isolated elements, they are often buried over others), this is, from a 5.1 standpoint, a disappointing result, potential unrealized.
"The Grid" is a prime example. Michael Riesman's keyboards offer a mesmerizing, disorienting carousel effect, and the visuals on screen in fast time-lapse keep our heads spinning for the next twenty minutes. But rather than even isolate him to the center with everything else going on in the other speakers--which would still have been conservative but workable--he's everywhere, but not really moving around. There's no swirling around the room in a daze, which is the visual effect. It's all too indistinct and dense, thus muting the potential mindblowing effect the mix
could have had. Which is not to say the producers should have mixed everything so wildly; on the contrary, some passages beg for discrete but unexciting mixing, to keep in touch with what is seen on screen.
And maybe that's the problem. Without the movie, one is left with great music that has been mixed without the movie in mind, but as if it were a concert performance, or as if it were just a studio recording, and they were recreating the studio ambience. But even then I'd have expected more isolation than is found here.
How to rate this? The sound quality is a solid '10', and the music unforgettable. The mix, however, gets a '3' from me for simply being the wrong approach (to give it a '5,' which I consider mediocre, it would still have to be a basic discrete mix, just a boring one. This one ain't very discrete, so....)
ED