Review of Life in a Day (2011) by Jake . — 26 Jul 2011

I remember when Youtube first started promoting the Life in a Day project. I had thought about participating, but then forgot about it until after the deadline. I'm not nearly narcissistic enough to believe that anything I submitted would have been used, but at the same time it would have changed the feeling of the film had their been personal participation.

Whether the footage was used or not would be irrelevant. Either way, it'd be such an uncanny connection to so many people around the globe. Anyone can chart a bit of their day, and everyone's day is made of many of the same type of things.

I kind of like that idea, essentially no matter differences, we're all more or less the same. Some of the shots are absolutely gorgeous; especially the skydiving shot. We see the familiar and exotic, oftentimes tragedy, but ultimately we're left with optimism.

While many of the clips are literally everyday life, many others took the filming as a opportunity to mark something important. It was a nice touch, though. It's kind of a value call, we are allowed to see what really matters to these people, what they want to place in a single video that represents their life.

I'll admit the film wasn't as amazing as I had expected it to be, but at the same time it left me with a lot. It felt authentic, completely intoxicating and incredibly poignant; cultural trappings aside, the human experience is the same no matter who or where you find yourself.