GODFREY REGGIO’S ONCE Within A Time might be this year’s craziest film. The filmmaker, best known for the epic 1982 Koyaanisqatsi, has concocted a 52-minute curio, co-directed by Jon Kane, that melds a silent-cinema feel with trippy VFX. He takes Empire through the wildest components of his new creation.
CHAOTIC IMAGERY
The film presents nutzoid visuals in service of a warning about the perils of progress. “I explore the same thing with every film: technology,” says Reggio. “It’s the most misunderstood subject for the last 5,000 years and it’s gone unnoticed.” As such, the film depicts wolves howling at an outsized iPhone, a steampunk Trojan horse and monkeys wearing VR goggles. “We’re like Perdue chickens, and we’re on the feedlot of Apple, Google and TikTok.” So that explains the symbolism of a man dressed as an outsized apple.