[source] https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/28019/human
This documentary is all about the face and experiences of humans all around the world.
It is
“A collection of stories about and images of our world, offering an immersion to the core of what it means to be human”.
The stories are a mix of all the human conditions from anger, fear, love, hate, envy, greed, to you name it.
And the stories are those of real live people on this earth. It allows the viewer to feel all the ways that we are really all the same. And it also gives one a perspective into all of the ways that we are different by means of our trauma. One can easily see that given the same circumstances they would find themselves with the same result. One also realizes that hate breeds hate and some of the people make a choice to stop the cycle. What is it that allows one to think outside of the cycle of hate. To step out of something so traumatic such as having your family murdered in front of you and chosing forgiveness.
There is a story of a man who was beaten by his father and told that he did that because he loved him. The man was speaking from living in prison with a life sentence. He tells that for the longest time he thought that love was supposed to hurt. He ended up so lost in his trauma that he murdered his wife and child. He says that he was given a chance to know what love is finally when the mother of dead wife granted him forgiveness and taught him what love really is. Not even one moment in his life had he felt this kind of love, and he was pushed so far.
Another story of a soldier who was killed in combat and was the only child. His Sergeant started calling her every year on his birthday and every holiday and it grew into a relationship to where he ended up telling his daughter that this woman was her grandmother. The speaker ends by stating “that’s what family means”. What compelled him to do that?
Through out the film my heart is alive with such questions, and I will admit, the viewing is not easy. It is mostly tragedy that is focused on which I am not a fan of, obviously.
This film was actually recommended by a friend of mine who seems to focus on everything that is wrong with the world and how to fix it. Fitting recommendation.
Overall, I appreciate the concept of the film but feel the execution could have highlighted some of the more rich aspects of humanity instead of the fallouts.