Probably one of the best summaries in the century so far of the human experience, Life in a Day tells the story of our race. It's complex usage of juxtaposition shows the audience drastic differences in the quality of life of dozens of different people and families. It was a film created entirely from YouTube videos uploaded by 80,000 different people from all over the world on the week of July 24th, 2010. These videos were recordings of their lives on the 24th. This movie and the way it was filmed really opened my eyes. It is amazing to me that so many people can go through so many different things all in the span of 24 hours. It makes me feel closer to the world around me and to people in other countries.
While I took a lot away from a lot of the scenes, I have to say the scene that was most memorable to me was the scene where that one guy was doing Parkour. I REALLY love Parkour. Doing flips off the walls and such really intrigues me. It makes me wish I was physically gifted enough to partake in such an activity. I did not approve of his shoplifting, however. It really puts in perspective the values and morals of different people in different situations. A scene that impacted me positively was the scene with the widowed Chinese man and his son. When they said the prayer to the dead wife/mother, I felt touched. I could not imagine losing either of my parents at such an age. I do not really feel as though any of the scenes really impacted me negatively. One scene that could have possibly had a negative impact was the scene where the man ate a live chick, but that scene was fast-forwarded through, so I did not have to suffer through watching it.
What does it mean to be human? Is humanity emotions? Love and compassion? Hatred and envy? Is humanity the ability to relate to other beings in an advanced way? The ability to create a higher, ever-developing society? A superior language? Opposable thumbs? I believe humanity is a complex mixture of all these things and so much more. In the film, I saw all of these components. Humanity is such a cruel and beautiful thing. I witnessed the sacrifices parents are willing to make for the well-being of their children, the hard work young kids endure daily to make enough money to help their mothers and fathers put food on the table. It makes me feel so blessed. I have no real problems. I do not ever go to sleep at night thinking what I am going to do about survival the next day. There is nothing in my life I have any room to complain about. A person such as myself, living in suburban middle class America, knows nothing of the plight of, say, a Middle-Eastern nomad. The world's plethora of lifestyles so greatly differ from one another, sometimes it is a wonder we are all even from the same planet.
I thought this film was artfully edited. I would certainly recommend it for a friend. The cinematography was absolutely pristine, given the filmers were all amateurs. The theme of the movie was visionary, one unsurpassed by anything that could have been scripted and acted out. It was a phenomenal movie, and I would not mind a conclusion, actually.
