Life in a Day | Review
‘Life in a Day’ is a highly successful experimental film that unites people from all over the world and their activities on one single day. This collaborative documentary is made possible through YouTube, director Kevin Macdonald (‘The Eagle’), producer Ridley Scott (‘Gladiator’), and over 80,000 individuals. This is a rare, important film that anyone can relate to and enjoy.
The “premise” of this film is to document the lives of thousands of people all over the world on one day, July 24th, 2010. This highly ambitious project explores how different, as well as how similar, people of different ages, cultures, and worlds can be. This hour and a half film combines over 4,500 hours of videos taken by normal, everyday people into one uniquely coherent cinematic experience.
This film has no real narrative other than a few specific sequences, such as: a clip at the beginning of the film starts early in the morning of July 24th, the end of the film includes a clip shot right before midnight, and a few questions asked to all the different people around the world (like what they love, what they fear, etc). What’s so impressive about ‘Life in a Day’ is how powerful of an impression it can have. Most people go about their lives as if the world revolves around them. Individuals are seeing the world through only one perspective, one lens. One clip in the film had someone who said absolutely nothing happened that day, but we very well know that a lot has happened all around the world. This film is powerful in the way it portrays so many different instances and scenarios that are happening on the same day, at the same time. Births, deaths, rituals, traditions, marriages, first world countries, third world countries, rich people, poor people, gay people, and mentally disabled people are portrayed in this film.
‘Life in a Day’ is a touching documentary that benefits from its collaborative nature. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming, exhilarating and emotional, and at times even hilarious. It shows just how little of a speckle we are on the planet. And this one day depicted is just a small instance of a world with 364 more days gone undepicted.
Four out of four Kents.
Extra Notes:
‘Life in a Day’ is currently streaming for free on YouTube. It is also out on DVD/Blu-Ray. Here is the YouTube stream:
