The ever engrossing question of what purpose does a movie serve gets answered today. That is what struck my mind when I saw 95 minutes of edited footage from 4500 hours of video submitted by people from across the world. I am sure not all of it made it into the final cut, but editor Joe Walker, director Kevin McDonald and Producer Ridley Scott have one clear message in mind – Life in a Day, is not a mere documenting of our mundane lives. It transcends boundaries and enables viewers to take a giant leap. This leap spans across wet rice fields in Bangladesh to urban jungles of busy Chicago, from the deep equatorial forests of Africa to the stuffed modern day apartment in Tokyo. This documentary does absolute justice to its name. What else could fit in so much equality across cultures as well so many differences? It could only be Life. And if the purpose of a movie is to touch upon the lives of its viewers, by moving them with images that might attract or repel them in some way, be it by horrifying them, making them cry, laugh or move them emotionally, then I can state this fact that there is no other movie in the whole wide world which does it as completely as ‘Life in a Day’ (LIAD). And for that reason alone, I think this is something that needs to be watched by one and all.
Filmed across the world on a random date of the 24th July 2010, LIAD’s narrative begins with the rolling of time past midnight. Some people are getting to bed, while others are on there way to work. It is this uniformity which strikes me the most. Although it also reminds me of the Rebecca Black song ‘Friday’ –
7am, waking up in the morning
Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs
Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal.
Never would I have thought I’d need to quote that.
There are various parallel storylines being depicted – of the family dealing with mum’s cancer, of the cyclist from Korea touring the world on his bicycle, of the shoe-shining boy, of the Afghan news photographer, optimistic of his country’s recovery, and most strikingly, of the single dad in Japan, living in his stuffed-to-the-brim apartment and struggling to raise his son. There is so much difference in their daily lives and their circumstances, and yet there is an obvious similar pattern of waking up, getting ready for the day and having breakfast. We, as humans in the 21st century have indeed come a long way. LIAD does seem to show us of the evolution of human civilisation and of the accomplishments of modern technology and how it has invaded our daily lives. Like that Indian guy who loves his refrigerator more than anything; that surely made me chuckle.
And talking of love, how humans define love differently, is in itself an amazing thing. For some, love is extremely materialistic ( like an orange Lamborghini or a Marc Jacobs leather bag), whilst for some it is their family, children or wife. For some, love is unrequited, whilst some deal with long distance relationship in a Skype window. Love is in a yummy cake, and it is also in a 150 miles long drive to Las Vegas. Love is in the gleam of a small boy who loves his father because he makes food for him and loves him more than his work. Love is also in the morning prayer to a photograph of a lost loved one. Love and longing for the motherland can even come from the most silly things, like a fly ( you’d need to watch the movie to get this reference).
The next big thing that LIAD explores is human fear. Children often tend to stretch their wings of imagination and fear witches and ghosts, whereas the elderly fear death or losing someone. And there is another fear which looms over us, fear of politics and the fear that a War would destroy the peace in the world. There is also the fear of the unknown and if religious belifes are exactly proven. In the words of an innocent child, she fears the possibility of religion and religious belief to turn out incorrect and when she dies, she’d just be dead for long, in the ground, and not be in Heaven.
There are a million and a half things to tell about this movie and I could literally go on and on about it. But it is best if you just go and see it for yourself. LIAD touches upon infinite aspects of human life – love, fear, politics, music, food, respect, excitement, anger, sorrow, jubilance, smile, theft, hunger, nerdyness, homosexuality, travel, nature, rain, clouds, thunder, maternity and even animal slaughter. There’s enough to move you and speak to you, no matter what language you speak in. I feel very emotional while writing this, and absolutely moved by the images that I came across in those 95 minutes. I am extremely thankful to all the contributors, the makers and the editors of this movie to have enlightened me. This movie makes me feel very small compared to the sheer magnitude of the world and the people living in it. It also makes me want to quit my job right now, and pack my bags and start cycling around the world. Instead, what I did after the movie, on my way home, was go to the local grocery store for some weekend half-price shopping. And it pretty much brings me to the conclusive speech of the normal girl seated in a car, fearing that she has ceased to exist to the world. Her whole day was all normal boring usualness, even on a Saturday, and she feels scared that her day-to-day usual activities overshadow her whole existence. Doesn’t that send a chill down your spine too?
If it was possible, and if it was legally provided, I would signup to make this movie readily available to anyone and everyone. If movies are made to change lives, this one sure does it in 95 minutes.
TRAILER – Life in a Day
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