It’s no secret that I love documentaries. They’re my go-to cure for insomnia. I try not to watch them and instead “stockpile” a bunch of films. Most of my friends know about my documentary obsession and they give me the best recommendations.
I thankfully do not have insomnia right now, but I couldn’t help but watch one (er… two) this weekend. You see, I had a random allergic reaction on Saturday night. I went to an amazing dinner with a friend, but there was something in the restaurant that my body was just not so pleased with. Even though I could finally breathe almost immediately after walking back outside, I woke up the next morning with super swollen eyes. A few hot compresses and two meetings later, I was still feeling puffy. Answering emails fell way way way to the wayside and I opted to watch a documentary instead. Best decision of the weekend, for sure.
Life in a Day is on Netflix Instant and you absolutely must watch it if you haven’t already. I found it to be one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. It was smart, and emotional, and visually stunning.
The entire film is comprised of homemade videos from users all around the world. Some of the videos are high quality, but others are made with little cameras. The fuzzy, bumpy videos give the film the most impact, in my opinion. It’s incredible just how human we all are despite geographical and cultural differences. The video conveys that in a simply brilliant way.
With everything that’s gone on during the past week, I think this restores the idea of a beautiful world. There are heart breaking moments, happy moments, horrifying moments, and also simple everyday moments. Pieced together as it is, the world seems whole and connected. Even those who feel lonely have to realize they’re not alone. (The ending was absolute perfection.)
I also watched Happy, but…. I was a little disappointed. The whole movie harped that happiness was some sort of trend and something you actually had to work at, yet it was obviously capitalizing on the fact that people are obsessed with finding happiness right now. Anyway, I also think any movie that I watched after Life in a Day was going to come up short. So maybe under different circumstances I would have enjoyed it more. (It comes highly recommended by a Levo Leaguer.)
Do you like documentaries? What are some of your favorites?
xoxo
PS Here is a handful of my favorites, plus a couple more.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who loves documentaries! I like them too! A few that I really liked are: "Forks Over Knives", "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" which was SOOO good! And the Hollywood Complex was also pretty good. 🙂
I love the Ken Burns baseball documentaries!
Food Inc
Dear Zachary is the BEST documentary I've ever seen. It's true crime, but goes so much deeper than that. I cried basically through the whole thing. I'd also watch Forks over Knives and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
I am excited to see Life in a Day.
xox Elizabeth
I also want to add a plug for Ken Burns, but for his Natural Parks: America's Best Idea miniseries. It's about 12 hours long, so I often watched it in half-hour chunks before I went to work. It's incredibly inspiring, not to mention beautiful. It made me feel very patriotic as well, and I'm not even American!
I loved First Position and Nursery University! I'm going to look into these!
It sounds super nerdy, but I'm really into "Word Wars" right now and "Waiting for Superman" never ceases to get me riled up. Also, "Babies" is just the best, 4 of the cutest children ever!
Life in a Day is one of my favorites! It was so interesting to see all different perspectives and things that happen in one day.
i was quite disappointed by happy. it made me sad. i really want to see life in a day.
I've seen SO many good ones because, like you, I love them, but I'd have to say my favourite is The Cove. Hands down.