FilmsPowaqqatsiLike this

Films like Powaqqatsi.

Powaqqatsi (1988) reads as Sombre, measured, measured non-narrative / globalization, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

Baraka (1992) (1992) poster
1. Baraka1992

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1985) poster
2. The Dark Glow of the Mountains1985

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

La Soufrière (1977) poster
3. La Soufrière1977

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Fitzcarraldo (1982) poster
4. Fitzcarraldo1982

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the cold, bleak undertow; trades toward a bone-dry seriousness.

Samsara (2011) (2011) poster
5. Samsara2011

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the heightened unreality; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Que Viva Mexico! (1979) poster
6. Que Viva Mexico!1979

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Kundun (1997) poster
7. Kundun1997

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the cold, bleak undertow; trades toward a grounded, familiar shape.

Adwa (1999) poster
8. Adwa1999

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a grounded, familiar shape.

The New World (2005) poster
9. The New World2005

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a dense, packed storytelling.

Red Psalm (1972) poster
10. Red Psalm1972

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

The Nouba of the Women of Mount Chenoua (1978) poster
11. The Nouba of the Women of Mount Chenoua1978

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a intimate, personal stakes.

Manufactured Landscapes (2006) poster
12. Manufactured Landscapes2006

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the cold, bleak undertow — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

These are Powaqqatsi’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

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