Don't listen to the negative reviews

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

At parts, in the first half, I saw some gems. Not enough to watch the hour. Nothing ties together. The little boy with aluminum hooks for hands, who swims out to sea after the seagulls? Pointless, unless I missed some realization before turning it off in disgust. Better use of simultaneous imagery and speech than in most projects that use these techniques.

I sought this out because of World of Tomorrow, which despite being shorter, does have more of a narrative drive and probably even more ideas than this. This, however, is still rather brilliant. It's easy to think that after a while it will get old and dull, but the ideas keep on flowing and they keep coming on. There's a narrative here, but it's the random, spontaneous moments that make the film shine. Despite such simple animation, it also works very well within what the film is trying to do. I don't think this is for everyone, but I definitely think that it will be able to find a sizable audience that will greatly appreciate it

What I can tell you is that "It's Such a Beautiful Life" will resonate with you in such a deep way. It had been sitting in my Netflix queue for some time and I'm not exactly sure why I watched it when I did. It was random, middle of the day on a Saturday. Five minutes into it, I had to pause to prepare for what I knew this was going to be: a beautiful tapestry of thoughts and philosophies charged with meaning. There were instances where certain things were said and words appeared on screen with timing that was just perfect and my breath was literally stolen from me. By the end of the short, I had to just bury my head in my hands and just cry. Not because it was overly sad or anything, but because it was reverberating with me so much. It was as though you've known this all along but had long forgotten - like it was from a past life. You WILL enjoy this film whether you are seeking some sort of existential comfort; if you are a fan of Don's work; or you're just curious about it. It's very much like previous shorts of his. You will find yourself laughing, crying, relating. And some of you might find yourselves changed forever.

I ran across this on Netflix and thought "wow, this guy won an award for drawing stick men?" So I watched it with a disdainful bit of envy at first, being an aspiring visual artist. While watching, I was disturbed by the subject matter and the obviously unhinged and intentionally melancholy atmosphere. I watched it in pieces, the first part during a bout of insomnia, the second with my girlfriend after drinking three spiced rum and ginger ale on the rocks, and the last part this morning when I woke up early. I am not sure how to describe this piece, is it genius or sadistic? It basically does make you really think about things. I already do that a lot, so I am compelled to wonder if this film really impacted me the way it was intended to. The main Character, Bill, really seems a bit like he isn't self aware at all. I guess there are some redeeming qualities this film maker needed to share about life from the perspective of disorientation. My final conclusion? Don't watch this bit of film making unless you want to feel disengaged from humanity and disillusioned by mixed feelings about the meaning of life. It is definitely a film making experience, just not one I am sure I would recommend.