""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.

An ambitious documentary that clocks in at over 3 hours and tries to unpack what it means to be human, where the species is at, and where it may go. It does this through interviews with various people from all over the world answering various questions in countless different languages, interspersed with visually beautiful but sometimes random images of landscapes and the people inhabiting them, usually people farming or otherwise working outdoors.

Some stories are more engaging than others, but most do serve a purpose, and some are quite emotional. It's the footage in between that feels a bit more confusing. It often doesn't link very well to what's being talked about, and while the visuals are beautiful, they end up not contributing a great deal, thematically. It's no Koyaanisqatsi, that's for sure, as in that documentary, sure, the images could be sometimes vague, but the amazing editing and score gave them purpose and meaning.

So I could still recommend this, maybe cautiously. Hearing interesting and emotional stories interspersed with beautiful visuals of endless landscapes and people framed like ants within them doesn't make for a fully cohesive 3 hours, though, and of course there's no concrete answers on what it means to be human, if anyone was even expecting that (the question of the meaning of life might be discussed, but it isn't solved, nor could it be).

It's a moderate success that's sometimes very emotional and has its fair share of amazing visuals, but feeling a bit formless and a tad repetitive, it ends up being less than the sum of its parts. Still... at least many of those parts are great.

"Human" is a 2015 movie by French filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand and even if he is already over 70, he has not made movies for as long as you would expect, namely over 10 years according to IMDb. The film we have here is in all kinds of languages, so unless you are a true linguistic talent, you sill definitely need subtitles. as for the runtime, there are several indications. The version I watched at the theaters ran for 2 hours 30 minutes exactly pretty much, but I found versions that are 15 minutes shorter and according to IMDb, it is actually over three hours long, so it probably depends on the quantity of interview footage included how long your version will be. Anyway, with this description i already talk about what this film is essentially all about, namely interviews with random people of both sexes, all age groups from all over the planet. We find out about their past, their hopes, their dreams, their work and their life in general. There is nothing specific about this film at all. Sometimes, the issues the people talk about are similar, but everybody offers a different perspective on a subject. And sadly, what we can take from this film as one of the major lessons is that injustice and inequality are still so existent and probably always will be. But there are also moments when it is an uplifting movie, for example when you hear from people who give great spiritual messages, but there are also statements that you will not share at all. For me this was true when it comes to a guy and how he imagines women in his life. But the good thing is that it is all entirely subjective. It is these people's choice and you should not judge them for anything they say, just like you would not want to be judged by any of them.

I will talk about some of my favorite moments now. I really like the almost last guy with his reference about saying "thank you" at your death bed. And what he says is probably something we all should desire to achieve, even if it is of course really difficult to see the light in the face of difficult unsatisfying situations in your life. Life itself is a great gift and we all are not even close to being as grateful as we should be for it. Another part I liked is the one coming from the former President of Uruguay when he talks about happiness. He refers to being humble as a core component in terms of finding it and I couldn't agree more. I think his statement is spot-on and I second everything he says. I believe that if you set new goals all the time and really want to achieve them so badly, then it's nothing too positive. Of course, ambition is important, but too much of it can be really destructive in my opinion. Happiness has a lot to do with humbleness and there are many many people who may never find it because they just can't get enough. Of course, on the other side, a certain level of necessities is crucial to have a life to enjoy and here I am talking about basic stuff mostly, but not exclusively. But back to this film, it was enjoyable throughout, had some really good moments, especially the ending for example. I would not call it one of my favorite films of the year, but I certainly recommend it.