Chronos
Chronos
| 10 May 1985 (USA)
Chronos Trailers

Carefully picked scenes of nature and civilization are viewed at high speed using time-lapse cinematography in an effort to demonstrate the history of various regions.

Reviews
Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable
ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!
Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
ccthemovieman-1 This is a 42-minute different kind of travelogue, showing various places around the world with no narration and, in some cases, speeded-up photography. In other cases - mainly the beginning - it's ultra-slow. To be honest, I like that fast-forward technique far more, such as where you see clouds and shadows moving by quickly. They move by landscapes, famous monuments and other building and even over art work. Other scenes area also run by quickly; usually when people are in the picture. Later, the speed is accelerated even more. Now people are just a blur. Still later, it's done differently with stop-action-type motion. Filming locations mainly are in the Southwest United States, New York City, Egypt, France and Italy.A few segments, such as those early ones in Egypt are way too slow but others are beautiful and fascinating. Some of these shots almost look computer-made, but they are real. The movie reminded me of "Koyaanisqati," but this is far better, in my opinion.There is no dialog in this short film. I've seen this three times and enjoyed it each time, although by now I am bored by the slow scenes. My favorites are ultra-speedy traffic parts. If you are looking something different, check it out.
juubei-2 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.
ralfleeb `Chronos' is a documentary about time. Ron Fricke attempts to give us a different perspective on time by the use of time-lapse and slow-motion film, hence the passage of time and in particular, the consequent impact on earth, our geography, our nature, our culture. We're shown stunningly beautiful time-lapse footage of impressive deserts, stones full of character, steep mountains, restless cities, people hurrying like ants in all sorts of public and individual transportation, timeless Greek architecture, public places of well-known cities in the western world, Mont St. Michel in the Bretagne at low tide, being engulfed with water during the rise to high tide, the old Bazaar in Istanbul flocking with byers and sellers, the Pyramids of Cheops, the Akropolis in Athens, Istanbul's Hagya Sophia, contrasted by baroque churches. It's stunningly beautiful, but where, oh where is the story behind this? It's also difficult to understand how how the visual information relates to the 1980s Jean Michel Jarre style synthesizer music. Once every while there is a crescendo, the pitch of the music rises, the volume rises, oh my gosh, what is about to happen? Nothing. We are lead into these expectations several times of the documentary, and after the third disappointing crescendo the level suspense and anticipation drops to zero. I can't recommend this movie, however check out Baraka, also by Ron Fricke, where he got everything right that is wrong in Chronos.
cinematographer This film is one of the most exquisite films I have ever seen. It is comprised completely of time-lapse and aerial photography, and is a tremendous accomplishment. Highly recommended for anyone interested in time-lapse photography, cinematography, or film making in general.