12/5/22, 8:38 Human | Film Review | Spirituality & Practice

Spirituality & Practice

Human
Directed by
Yann Arthus-Bertrand

An astonishing three-hour film with many voices expressing

the best and the worst of humanity.

Film Review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

"Only the unity of all can bring out the well-being of all."
— Robert Muller

The quest for unity is the salient point of spiritual practice in the 21st century. It is manifest in
attempts to live in harmony with others and in our community-building efforts. Unity is also
about affirming commonalities, respecting differences, and celebrating the diversity of the

https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/28019/human 1/7
12/5/22, 8:38 Human | Film Review | Spirituality & Practice

Creation. Without unity, there is little hope for the flourishing of compassion, justice, or
peace.

Human — which you can watch through the links to volumes 1 - 3 toward the end of this
review — is an astonishing three-hour documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. He is the
award-winning photographer and author of more than 40 books, including the international
bestseller The Earth from The Air. He chairs the GoodPlanet Foundation, an NGO that
promotes sustainable development.

In preparation for this monumental documentary, Bertrand interviewed more than 2,000
people from 60 countries. The goal was to have many voices expressing the best and the
worst of humanity. Bertrand is a realistic optimist who has given ordinary men and women a
chance to speak their truths.

During an interview at the Venice Film Festival, the director said:

"I think the only way to make people think is through emotions. Not through the brain —
through the heart." Many of those interviewed weep openly as they touch upon the pain,
suffering, and death they have witnessed: a Hiroshima survivor, Rwandan genocide
witnesses, American veterans, Syrian refugees and many others. Their poignant stories pull
us in, and we remember what Angeles Arrien explained, "That which we witness, we are
forever changed by, and once witnessed we can never go back."

https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/28019/human 2/7
12/5/22, 8:38 Human | Film Review | Spirituality & Practice

The onscreen interviews are presented in tandem with aerial shots of cities, oceans, deserts,
forests, and crowds of people. We have created a gallery with some of these outstanding
photographs with captions from the documentary. These visual interludes give us a chance to
pause and contemplate what we have heard in the interviews. The images also depict the
human quest for work, meaning, and fun (see the wave pool at the packed Chinese
swimming park).

At the heart of Human: A Portrait of Our World is a series of essential questions which form the
spiritual and philosophical foundation of the documentary:

Why is there is there so much hatred and war?

Why do some have so much and others have so little?
Why are human beings destroying the earth?

Bertrand calls his film "A Conversation with the World" and so it is. You will hear people talk
about forgiveness, marriage, sex, strangers, tolerance, poverty, women's rights, happiness,
homosexuality, immigration, and modern slavery.

https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/28019/human 3/7
12/5/22, 8:38 Human | Film Review | Spirituality & Practice

There's a Native American saying: "Any persons whom you have ever met, even if you have
just exchanged a glance on a bus, have become part of your being and consequently you are,
in some sense, responsible for them." Films such as Human create that kind of exchange. We
are grateful to Bertrand for this extraordinary documentary that moves us from "Me to We"
as our hearts, minds, and senses merge with others in the spiritual journey of unity.

"When the heart opens, we forget ourselves and the world pours in: this world,
and also the invisible world of meaning that sustains everything that was and
ever shall be. When the heart opens, everything matters, and this world and the
next become one and the same. "
— Roger Housden in Ten Poems To Open Your Heart

Thanks to the unconditional and exceptional support of the Bettencourt Schueller

Foundation, French TV France 2 and Google, this project produced by the GoodPlanet
Foundation, will be accessible to the widest possible audience throughout the world. On
September 12, 2015, Human Day, there was a screening at the United Nations, and it was
screened at the Venice Film Festival. Google has made the film available through dedicated
YouTube channels with content in English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and French.
These channels offer three 90-minute films, forming a natural extension of the HUMAN
project:
https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/28019/human 4/7