Truly a groundbreaking achievement that shows the kind of art only possible in our "always connected" present. "Life in a Day" is the reason Youtube was invented. Away from gag-inducing pop, rant, and novelty videos is a global community capable of more than flaming each other in the site's comment sections. Over 80,000 video submissions have been cut and edited together in a glorious, sequential kaleidoscope depicting just what life meant to countless individuals in one day (July 24th 2010) from around the globe. The result is stunning, a meditative experiment that deserves comparison to the liked of "Baraka" and Godfrey Reggio's Qatsi trilogy. The viewer is taken on an emotional odyssey, through segments warm, sad, funny, disturbing; to uncomfortably voyeuristic. It's exhausting, it's scatter shot, and it's life. You'll be thinking about this after the credits role.

Life in a Day isn't really what you would call a film so much as a long Youtube video without anything tying it together. The film balances between the everyday, ordinary lives of people from all over the world and the fantastical possibilities of one day, all encapsulated by film, and all simultaneously happening at the same time. This film was made possible by a compilation of Youtube videos, and several camera crews which went into the developing world. The parts that were shot by Scott Free Productions didn't always coalesce with the irregular footage of Youtubers. These people showed their everyday actions, including their morning routines, what was in their pockets, and telling what they were most afraid of, all questions the production company asked them to answer in their videos. These questions at times helped to keep the film balanced between the mundane and spectacular, although this film was haphazard much of the time. It wasn't exactly the amazing trip around the world I was expecting or a true look into the lives of every culture and clandestine society on Earth, but visually there were some great scenes, including a skydiving expedition, the explicit death of a cow, and scenes of the everyday lives of Indians, Africans, Australians, and the like, a view of the world I hardly ever get to see. Still, there could have been more. Though the film broaches much of the world, and tries to tie things together with questions, human experiences, and the confessions and condemnations of the scared youth and far more vulnerable adults, it still tried to please too many people with cutesy faire. The film doesn't reach any new heights, or showcases anything extremely vivid or interesting, but does give a chuckle once in a while, a swell of emotion at others, and a decent amount of introspection to anyone who watches with an open heart and mind. Though the execution might not have been perfection the first time around, it was a decently poignant film in places and though not hard hitting it did reveal a new layer of humanity that hasn't been seen directly. For such a broad spectrum of life, they did a decent job overall.