Human

Directed by renowned French photojournalist Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Human (2015) is an epic documentary project that investigates the essential question: what does it mean to be human? Rather than following a single linear protagonist or relying on voice-over narration, the film interweaves intimate first-person testimonials from over 2,000 people across 60 countries with breathtaking aerial landscape cinematography.

The documentary unfolds in thematic tapestries spanning three extended volumes or chapters. Testimonials are framed in close-up against uniform, dark backgrounds, stripping away geographic, class, and social signifiers to place all subjects on equal footing. Interviewees—ranging from Syrian refugees, American death row inmates, and Rwandan genocide survivors to former world leaders and subsistence farmers—share uninhibited truths about love, violence, forgiveness, poverty, migration, and the purpose of life.

Complementing these confessionals are grand, slow-motion aerial sequences set to an eclectic score composed by Armand Amar. These bird's-eye vistas capture natural landscapes, human toil, bustling megacities, and collective rituals, providing contemplative breathing space between deeply emotional personal accounts.

The central thesis of Human is that emotional vulnerability and universal human feelings transcend all geographical, ideological, cultural, and socio-economic divisions. Arthus-Bertrand set out to bypass intellectual and political debate to communicate directly with the viewer's heart. The documentary argues that recognizing our shared frailty, capacity for empathy, and mutual interdependence is the only path toward collective survival and planetary harmony.

The Universalist Humanist Perspective: The film demonstrates that underneath cultural and linguistic differences, all human beings share identical needs for love, freedom, and emotional acknowledgment.

Human debuted in late 2015 amid escalating global tensions, including the European migrant crisis, ongoing Syrian civil war, and heightened global debates over climate action ahead of COP21 in Paris.

Critics lauded the documentary as a visual triumph and a profoundly humanist document. The score by Armand Amar and the cinematographic scale received praise for evoking empathy on a global level. Some critics noted that its sheer length and rapid montage between disparate tragedies could overwhelm viewers or homogenize distinct political conflicts. Nevertheless, it remains a landmark achievement in participatory documentary filmmaking.

Praised Aspects: The emotional honesty of the interviews, Armand Amar's score, the cinematography, and the egalitarian treatment of subjects without hierarchy.

Main Points of Criticism: The three-hour runtime (or 4.5 hours in the three-volume director's cut), the absence of contextual political analysis, and the emotional exhaustion induced by consecutive accounts of severe trauma.

Overall Verdict: Widely regarded as a moving and visually stunning documentary exploration of the contemporary human condition.