Rating: PG
Running time: 95 mins
Release date: 1 September 2011
Life In A Day chronicles the lives of many different people from all parts of the world, on a single day: 24 July 2010. Via YouTube, producers Tony and Ridley Scott enlisted ordinary people to capture moments of their lives on camera. This is a remarkable film in that there is no real script, a multitude of directors (being those who filmed themselves), cast members and locations; and it was filmed on a large variety of cameras including camcorders and phones, so the quality of video can vary from one scene to the next.
So one might ask, what can you review about this film? It's all in the post-production, which must have been a monumental task for producers Ridley and Tony Scott, director Kevin McDonald and more importantly editor Joe Walker, who waded through 4,500 hours of footage from over 80,000 submissions from 192 countries. They deliver a masterpiece that takes us through a day in the lives of people from many countries and many cultures, collecting many shots and exploring themes from everyday life. A stirring musical score by Harry Gregson-Williams and Matthew Herbert complements the visual feast.
There is some amazing photography, showing that there's either a great number of very talented people in the world, or that creating stunning visuals has become very easy. Several scenes that are similar have been collected together to explore common themes, such as birth, food, fear, love, respect, and even death. There are also a number of characters that make reappearances, like a family dealing with the mother's recovery from surgery after having secondary cancer, and a cyclist who has been travelling around the world for 9 years, has an obsession with flies and been hit by cars 6 times, 5 requiring surgery.
Each piece might be mundane to some, however this is the whole point to the film: Life is full of moments that can be dull, disturbing, fearful, frustrating, sad, happy, loving, and exhilarating. In the closing scene we're told that it doesn't matter whether nothing exciting might have happened in one day; life is to be celebrated.
4.5/5 stars review by Dave Nottage
More News
