Chronos (1985)

A impressed Ron Fricke with his work behind of the marvelous "Koyaanisqatsi" (1983, directed by Godfrey Reggio) decided to make his own effort in displaying magnificent panoramic shots filmed with a time lapse photography in "Chronos". This time he's the director but what's worth of being that if you don't have a concept behind all beautiful scenes? I won't say that everything is thrown in the wind because it's not. It's very impressive in its 45 minutes, in its aerial shots (the ones filmed in Paris being the greatest moment), slow motion and fast forward moments but it doesn't have an idea, a concept that makes us look to the screen and say: that's interesting" or "here's something to learn at".It is easy to get bored, to get distracted (and I was at few parts) and all. But the major problem is to hearing the music that seems to have a capacity of detonate or explode your earphones, sound systems and similars since the noises, created by a expensive and hard to handle machine, a innovation at the time, is incredibly unlistenable. If Fricke wanted to pick someone and something from Reggio's classic it should have been picking Philip Glass to make the music. I said the same thing about "Baraka", but since I watched this one after "Baraka" I couldn't help but being bothered with the score, while the scenes stuck in your memory, the music must be forgotten in dark sides of your mind.Gotta love the fact that this film was beautifully restored, and for a film made in 1985 it is really something great. The images on the screen are vivid, unforgettable, dazzling, and everything is so timeless (except for the strange people walking down the rolling stairs, just look at the clothes and their hairstyle) that a careless soul might think that this film was released just now.Worth a view, and my suggestion is that you look for the other films I mentioned, they're far better than this, but watch this too and if possible make a second view but with the audio off, listening to another soundtrack, choosing a film soundtrack, classic music or progressive rock, anything besides Michael Stearns tracks. 9/10

This forty-minute novelty item, directed by the cinematographer of 'Koyaanisqatsi', presents a time-lapse history of Western Civilization, from ancient Egypt to downtown Los Angeles. Like its predecessor the film is essentially a non-narrative travelogue filled with sweeping vistas and arresting images, set to a soaring new-age soundtrack and intended only for the largest movie screen in town. The various landscapes, both natural and man-made, are pleasant to look at, but that's all they are: pretty pictures, a showcase for Ron Fricke's computer operated camera. It's clear from the brief length of the film that Fricke himself realized its limitations; his theme of the transience of humankind compared to its creations is explored only superficially, and relies too heavily on repeated shots of cumulus clouds whizzing over Stonehenge and sunlight passing over the face of the Sphinx.

You have to listen to the commentary track on the special edition DVD to understand this movie. Many scenes were shot not only in time lapse but also with multiple exposures and multiple frame printing. Because of this we are able to view scenes which are not ordinarily recordable on film in places where artificial lighting is not permitted. This is as close as we will ever get to seeing these places without actually being there.A supplementary featurette also explains the origins of the music and unique instruments which were used to record it.Critics should bear in mind that this movie was shot in 1985 on a shoestring budget with a home made camera at a time when IMAX was in its infancy. As such it is a staggering achievement and a landmark movie in the history of cinematography.

I wasn't particularly impressed by this movie that has lackluster music and only lasts 40 minutes. Thank God, because I was falling asleep. I makes excellent use of time lapse photography to display the passage of time in the movement of light and shadow, people, water, clouds, etc. Unfortunately, that's all it is.My preference is for its predecessor, the excellent Koyaanisqatsi made in 1983 at 87 minutes and to prove that a sequel can be better than the original, Powaqqatsi made in 1988 running 90 minutes.Try them both.