No dialogue, other than some faintly incidental (and un-subtitled) Italian. No characters, and no story. And still one of the most compelling cinematic experiences I've ever had.
It's nothing more and nothing less than a tour of the earth, simple and straight-forward: See something interesting, point the camera at it, look at it for a while, and move on. No thematic shaping, as in "Koyaanisqatsi" or "Baraka." Just a portrait of some things you might find on the planet.
Interestingly, it's impossible to say just how far afield the movie takes us. It could all be in a two-mile radius, or it could be all over the globe. But the selection of images creates a universality, and a true feeling of a moving, communicating snapshot of the Earth.
Brilliant -- flat-out brilliant.
It's nothing more and nothing less than a tour of the earth, simple and straight-forward: See something interesting, point the camera at it, look at it for a while, and move on. No thematic shaping, as in "Koyaanisqatsi" or "Baraka." Just a portrait of some things you might find on the planet.
Interestingly, it's impossible to say just how far afield the movie takes us. It could all be in a two-mile radius, or it could be all over the globe. But the selection of images creates a universality, and a true feeling of a moving, communicating snapshot of the Earth.
Brilliant -- flat-out brilliant.
