Bill struggles to put together his shattered psyche, in this new feature film version of Don Hertzfeldt's animated short film trilogy.
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I get that it was supposed to reflect a descent into madness (with memory loss); but it was just too odd for me. Random information discussing situations that really are not that interesting or are the character's taste etc. It seems to have hot the mark for many reviewers and so it may be worth a watch to see if you are among the fans. You will know within minutes whether you will relate to it - so dont waste your time like I did and watch the whole thing (it doesnt improve as it progresses).
This is the story of Bill, an unassuming and lonely stick figure. His mundane life takes a turn for the worst when Don Hertzfeldt's signature craziness takes over and Bill's world spirals out of control. If you know Hertzfeldt's work, you know this film will have some episodes of freaky comedy that comes from way out in left field, with occasional grotesque monstrosities and dark wit. Some of these scenes make the film humorous and intriguing. It does a lot more though -- the film gradually becomes nuttier and nuttier, until it becomes a sobering reflection on human frailty and mortality.But that's not the end of it. The second chapter kicks in, digging up more of Bill's past and future. Then there's the third chapter, which gives a remarkable upswing and tells a story of Bill having a reawakening. At this stage, the film becomes an inspiring and artistic narrative, suggesting that the human spirit transcends space and time.The entirety of It's Such a Beautiful Day is a complete narrative that chronicles one man's life and drags the audience through all the ups and downs of his suffering. It leads to a wonderful payoff that illustrates the beauty of life and gives hope in the face of death.You might think a movie with stick figure people wouldn't be elegant, but this film is a complex piece of art that incorporates minimalist drawings with raw photography and other real-life elements to paint a composite picture. It is especially notable when the film draws certain lines between the reality Bill sees and the reality he discovers, made apparent when more real-life footage is used at the end. In short, a lot of work went into bringing these stick figures to life, but the world around them is truly vivid. Voice acting and sounds are wonderful and highly effective. The music is quite uplifting as well.It's funny at times, bleak in others, and there are crazy parts. But it delivers a cathartic experience with emotional themes that can resonate with everybody. It's a movie that tells you no matter what you're going through, everything will be okay in the end. People are wonderful. It is such a beautiful universe.5/5
I've just finished this film for the first time and struggle to find the words to describe it. It is funny in that dark Hertzfeldt way. But it is so much more than that. It ties the humor of humanity in with the pain of being human. It's a Beautiful Day tells, mostly in present tense, the story of Bill. The entire time we are laughing at Bill's misfortunes, we empathize, he is becoming a part of us. We soon find we are laughing at ourselves and our world.The story starts like many of Hertzfeldt's shorter films. The telling of this story, at first, comes off kind of clumsy, as if its creator struggled with such a large canvas on which to tell it. But the pieces are violently shoved together in a moment that makes Hertzfeldt's genius come to light. This moment which gives a greater sense of the story is followed by several more that cut me to the core. In my opinion, this story is agonizingly beautiful and is rich with that transparent honestly only Hertfeldt has seemed to be able to accomplish via film/animation.
Existential spewing that has a lot of great ideas, but it's trying so hard to make you have a revelation that it doesn't realize how unoriginal some of its ideas are. We're just brains floating around. We don't live because we're afraid to die. There's hidden beauty in the world. All of these things are nice ideas but none of them are things I haven't thought of before. The movie wants to tackle everything in huge, broad strokes, and doesn't dig into any of these ideas enough to wow me. It's a little like a older teen who is telling a group of little kids some profound existential whatever he read on the internet about how people are specks and nothing matters and the 8 year olds are eating it up because it's profound. There's not really a ton of wisdom here. Other films like The Tree of Life and American Beauty tackle similar ideas, but they do them with much more detail and I can relate to them on not just vast levels, but personal ones. Sure this movie can be a personal experience for people, but is this movie ACTUALLY changing your life? It's kind of like a politician who rallies up crowds because they know exactly the problems in the country and what needs to be done, but doesn't actually say how they're going to do it. I don't believe life works with the broad strokes the movie paints it with. It approaches life with a birds eye view. Psychological problems or true love, for example, are hardly on this film's mind, yet they are more relevant to actual life, not this fantasized version of life where people are directionless pawns on a chessboard, slaves to mundanity. I liked this movie a lot because it's a good motivator for living life to its fullest and trying to appreciate beauty, but I don't think that it's actually THAT wise or enlightening, and it's not going to make me go outside and cry at a flower. I enjoyed it's animation style a lot and experimental nature and it blends many of its ideas together very well. Problem is, it talks big and lacks detail.