Review of Life in a Day (2011) by Nathan C — 31 Dec 2011

An ambitious cinematic experience that is fascinating and engrossing! Sure, it doesn't seem much at first, but to create a huge portrait of life is very significant for our time... and the subsequent generations that come.

July 24, 2010. I don't exactly know what I did that day, and I kinda wish that I was involved in this project. However, that's none of your concern because there are other people's lives right in front of your eyes. It shows enough of what they do for a living, and their opinions, but not so much that it drags on for too long. The big whopper is that it is recorded worldwide, and it happens over the span of that single day.

With this film, I have gained a new cultural insight about the world, and how alternately good and bad it is to be alive. All of this cannot be possible without the brilliant editing. To condense 4,500 hours of footage into a 90-minute feature film and still retain the emotion and passion is a triumphant feat indeed. The camerawork, not always high-quality, is really good, particularly in certain bits. For example, the sky-diving bit was awesome! Overall, it's funny, touching, breathtaking, heartwarming, tragic, poignant, and ultimately optimistic in its view. Yes, it can be kinda boring at times, and feels a bit too shallow and opinionated for a documentary - as it doesn't have the usual facts and statistics that accompany these films. However, in the end, it's really meaningful and deep, open to interpret and bringing some implications upon the future. It has the power to make more of an impact for humanity overall than other documentaries.

This isn't just a movie; it's history being made. It's also life, as the numerous who participated know it. The best way to review it, in my honest opinion, is just absorbing all the images being made and piecing them together as a whole. In that sense, "Life in a Day" is spectacular.