Chronos (1985)

Director:

Ron Fricke

Writers:

Constantine Nicholas (scenario)
Genevieve Nicholas (scenario)

Release Date:

1985 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Documentary

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Castle | No Dialogue | Escalator | Mountain | Nature

US Showtimes:

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Runtime:

42 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

None

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.34 : 1

Sound Mix:

IMAX 6-Track

Filming Locations:

405 Freeway, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Les Productions de la Géode

Trivia:

Composer Michael Stearns used a instrument called the Beam to generate many of the sounds for this film, which is 12 feet long made of extruded aluminum with 24 piano strings from 19-22 gauge. The original instruments it was based upon were made from cast iron and difficult to move around.

Baraka "lite" (shorter, perhaps a good intro to this sort of film)

In Greek mythology, Chronos is said to be the personification of time. Taking that into consideration, you might assume that this would be the longest of the films that Ron Fricke was involved with but actually the opposite is true. Chronos comes in at just under 45 minutes making it a short but sweet trip around some of the world's most beautiful man-made and geological structures.

For those looking for a longer trip as well as more to think about when the film is over, I highly recommend Powaqqatsi at 99 mins, Baraka at 96 mins, and Koyaanisqatsi at 87 mins - but you should probably skip Naqoyqatsi at 89 mins because its the weakest of the Qatsi trilogy. Whereas Naqoyqatsi's seizure inducing mechanical/digital messages drench the experience, Chronos is the exact opposite.

Chronos is sort of a Baraka "lite". This does not have the music of Philip Glass or the socio-political messages, but the beauty on display should make up for it. Additionally Fricke experiments with different exposures and filters (not seen in the other films) to create some striking effects. If you get the chance to see it, definitely take this one for a spin.

Fricke has a new film coming out soon (should be sometime this year) called Samsara which is a sequel to Baraka, and if that doesn't fill the gap you can check out Anima Mundi (by Reggio about animals), Microcosmos (about insects) and Atlantis (by Luc Besson) which is like a scuba dive.