rating:
(out of
4 stars)Canada, United States; 1985
Directed by Ron Fricke; produced by Ron Fricke, Jeffrey W. Kirsch; scenario by Constantine Nicholas, Genevieve Nicholas
Three years after 'Koyaanisqatsi' comes the cinematographer of that film with 'Chronos', another film without dialogue, just images accompanied with music. In my opinion 'Chronos' looks as beautiful as 'Koyaanisqatsi', takes less than half the time to be impressed, and instead of a real message it just shows what mankind has achieved in thousands of years.
Like in 'Koyaanisqatsi' Ron Fricke starts with beautiful images of nature. A fast forward brings us in present time and then he shows how we have come at that point. We see images of Stonehenge, ancient Egypt and Rome, images of Paris, finding our way to New York.
Almost every shot is done with the time lapse photography already seen in 'Koyaanisqatsi', and every shot is as beautiful as the last. The music composed by Michael Stearns fits the images neatly. Of course it can not surpass the Philip Glass score for 'Koyaanisqatsi', but what really can? Both images and music are great and what is shown is interesting. 'Chronos' gives you a good fourty minutes of your time.