Human

My favorite film of 2015. Spanning dozens and dozens of countries and languages, Yann Arthus-Bertrand's Human is a mission to explore our humanity. The three-year project interviewed some 2,000 people and got them to tell their own personal, emotional stories about things most significant in their lives—love, war, poverty, happiness—things to which we all can relate. It's a masterpiece. And the entire film has been released online for free.

The format is simple. Clean, candid close-up interview shots spaced with gorgeous slow-motion aerials backed by a powerful score. It's beautiful. And it had me eagerly awaiting each new story to be told. I've heard it all before in one form or another. But the format makes it easy for us to listen—really listen—to so many people from so many different backgrounds. These stories here can echo so deeply and with such a strong feeling that we are all connected—if you choose to allow them. With this, the film is unforgettable.

This is a film that matters. It has no plot. No drama, no storyline, no action. And no celebrities—save José Mujica, the humble former president of Uruguay. It's simply a grassroots collection of short stories and vignettes united upon a theme. But it's the antidote to so many films that divide us, that reinforce the us-vs.-them dichotomy that enables us to prejudge, to define ourselves against others, and to resort to violence so easily.

I want to travel the world and know even more about others now.

Learning, to me, goes beyond understanding the mechanics of our environment. It includes the development of habits, such as introspection, critical thinking, and empathy. The moment we came screaming into this world, our brains started making sense of things. What is love? What is trust? What are other people?

Some of these things we learn not just by words or imitation, but through systems in our brain that have evolved to respond to particular experiences: seeing faces, experiencing touch, hearing the heartbeat of our mothers.

But as in any other category, we may learn the wrong things. Abuse destroys trust. Negligence withholds love. Separation stifles empathy. And over time, we need to reinforce our knowledge of love, trust, and empathy – like any other thing we've learned.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand's "Human" is a tour de force in exercising our empathy. Filmed in 60 countries, it is the result of interviews with more than 2,000 people. It showcases not only the diversity of humanity, but also the beauty of our planet through stunning aerial photography.

This is an intense work. It requires setting aside time and mental energy to take in the stories, which are often heartbreaking. You will hear the stories of people living in abject poverty, people who have lost their entire families to war, women who have been raped, killers who have been forgiven, and humans of all ages who have endured shameful prejudice.

Tales of heroic endurance and the relentless pursuit of happiness, education, justice – those are the most uplifting moments in the film. A film like this might risk falling into a kind of moral relativism, a mere celebration of diversity. But "Human" returns to the call for justice throughout.

One Indian man tells the story of how the victims of water shortages are helping to construct a twin tower with 76 swimming pools to be enjoyed by the wealthy. He says he is furious because the connection between inequality and its effects is so apparent. A destitute old woman yells at the camera, calling us all to account for ignoring the suffering of the poor.

In another scene in between interviews, we see a vast array of skyscrapers lit at night. From afar, they look gorgeous, an incredible show of light and architecture. Then the camera zooms into one of the buildings, and we see office cubicles, lonely workers, a soulless, sterile environment.

"Human" does not give us an answer to injustice, inequality, poverty, waste, war. It reminds us powerfully that there is a question here: If we care about one another as human beings, what do we do now?

human....

I know that my writing ( I am from Brazil) here is awful, but still I have to speak about this unique film. Before seeing it was easy to judge someone , it was easy to define love, fear, terror.... I thought that feeling something very deep in a movie was almost impossible, always artificial ... After watching "humans", I understand the complexity of what is to be a human, the beauty of what is love , I was moved like never before seeing a father talking about his son... Something very deep inside me has changed after watching this movie, something that is now open, and that is my view on the others, judging someone, for me now, is as simple as understanding love...

Thank you for showing me what being a human is all about...

Very broad and deep viewing.

The slow panning scenes and atmospheric music deliver a sublime high definition experience complimented and counterbalanced by short intimate accounts of very personal stories mostly about the individuals themselves and their sometimes incredible lives and at times harrowing experiences. So much so I had to pause for a break from the emotional intensity of some of the toughest stories.

There are three volumes/films and I have only watched most of the way through the first so far. I wonder if the on-screen text is played/available in other languages because I saw them in English on Google Play and the multitude people telling their stories are truly drawn from all walks of life and corners of the world.

A marvelous way to expand your view of humanity.

""I am poor. I will now define poverty. What is poverty to me? It's when I have to go to school but can not go. When I need to eat, but I can not. When I need to sleep, but I can not. When my wife and children suffer. I do not have the intellectual level needed to get out of this situation. neither I nor my family. I feel really poor in body and mind. And you rich, who are listening to me, what you have to say about their wealth?""

Presented in 3 Volumes of 1 hour and a half duration each, HUMAN speaks about LOVE in the purest sense of the word; talks about the machismo and homophobia still very present in the world of wars and conflicts, about revenge and forgiveness, about the humiliating poverty of many and indifferent wealth of the few. It also talks about how the current system is unfair and how the work for most people is exhausting, stressful and unhappy, making them spend his life in exchange for a money can buy everything but quality of life or True Love.

HUMAN makes it clear how the violence against others and contempt for the less fortunate, regardless for what reasons are, it's something completely useless and unnecessary. Because in every face and all eyes, be they rich or poor, black or white, victims or criminals, straight or gay, old or children, we see that all these people are human-beings, each with its peculiarities, cultures and different stories, yes, but human-beings above all.

This Documentary makes us look inside ourselves and make the following questions:

Why do I keep killing me to work for a lifetime in a job that makes me more harm than good, just to accumulate the maximum of goods I can, when I die I will not take anything with me? Why do we treat each other so badly? Why do we insist on seeing the other as a threat, an enemy, not a creature to be understood, heard and respected? Why do we insist we find ourselves higher or worse than others?

If all - or at least most - do these simple questions and begin to see in every known and unknown face a Being-Human, surely the world would not this place so full of poverty, inequality and conflict.