Visitors

Visitors is a follow-up to the Qatsi trilogy—Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi—a series of three dialogue-free visual essays capturing both the beauty and horror of encroaching technology directed by Godfrey Reggio and memorably scored by Philip Glass. A less visually kinetic film, shot in black-and-white and primarily featuring long and nearly static shots of faces and buildings, Visitors also has a more muted, less propulsive musical score. The films opens with an arresting series of three sequential images: a huge close-up of a gorilla's face, a shot of the moon's surface (a 2001: A Space Odyssey reference, perhaps?), and a low-angle view of a building bearing the Latin inscription “Novus Ordo Seclorum” (“new order of the ages,” which also, incidentally, appears on the back of a dollar bill). The 74 total shots (held for 70 seconds each on average) include a man with his face held in a silent scream, somewhat dead-eyed kids on a merry-go-round, and stark-looking (due to the b&w film stock) landscape scenes of a Louisiana swamp. The most arresting sequence here follows disembodied hands engaged in activities that we can all readily interpret: scrolling a mouse wheel, swiping across a tablet or smartphone, and texting—without seeing the actual devices, the shots look like elaborate mime routines. Faces, a cemetery, a landfill, buildings in ruin, a lunar vista—frankly, it's a bit hard to divine a coherent narrative purpose informing Visitors, which sometimes feels like an extreme stare-down. Even so, the Qatsi films have a dedicated following, and fans will want to see this as well. A strong optional purchase. (R. Pitman)