Film review: Life in a Day

IF YOU'RE after something radically different from everything else at present, this docu-snapshot of the world as it was on July 24 last year may be the ticket.

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IF YOU'RE after something radically different from everything else at present, this docu-snapshot of the world as it was on July 24 last year may be the ticket.

(Warning: Do not get your it-happened-in-July movies mixed up, or you will be left clutching a ticket to the dreaded One Day.)

In its pre-production phase, Life in a Day enjoyed a few zaps of buzz as one of the smartest crowd-sourcing projects on the internet.

If you've already forgotten, this was the YouTube-sanctioned video competition fronted by well-known UK filmmaker Kevin Macdonald.

Anyone and everyone with a camera - anywhere on the planet - was invited to film all pertinent proceedings on the aforementioned date in question.

Once everything was uploaded to YouTube HQ, Macdonald and his team took the best 5000 hours worth of vision and whittled it down to one easy-to-watch 90-minute capsule.

The result, quite fittingly, is just as messy as life itself - a crazy-quilt montage of happiness, sadness, boredom, excitement, loneliness, friendship, work and play.

Not all of this stuff will totally grip you with its urgency or relevance, but not a second of it (yes, even that fellow contemplating his laundry list) will wear out its welcome.

If you're in two minds, be sure to sample some of what did and didn't make the final cut at the Life in a Day site.

Directors: Kevin Macdonald, Natalia Andreadis, Joseph Michael