Life Is But a Dream
Life Is But a Dream
NR | 10 June 2013 (USA)
Life Is But a Dream Trailers

Life Is But a Dream is a HBO documentary about the life of US singer Beyoncé Knowles during the years 2011 and 2012 and on the recording of her fifth album. The film was directed by Beyoncé herself. The film shows Beyoncé from intimate moments of her pregnancy to behind the scenes and rehearsals of the main concerts of that time.

Reviews
muyoyeta

I kept on waiting for a 'big moment' in the 'documentary' but I couldn't find it... watched all the way to the end and I was left confused. A big flop, D-.It's really an uncoordinated jungle of spaghetti which tries too hard in vain to show the 'human' side of Beyoncé.She could have tried to inject some life into it by soliciting interview opinions of her Destine Child friends; co-workers and those around her. It could have injected some life into it and pretended to be independent and unbiased, or rather 'real'. I agree with many reviewers that she has failed lamentably to win new fans with this film. At least she has tried to show her work ethics; that she works hard at what she does hence the 4 stars above.

... View More
italo505

I caught Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream last weekend on HBO Zone where they showed encore after encore after encore of this documentary so there was no way I could miss it, followed by an interview with Oprah over at OWN on the same night of the cable premiere.The documentary was produced, directed, promoted, starred and edited by Beyoncé herself so there are many details that she's left out so we get to see probably a small percentage of the "real" Beyoncé that we've expected to see. It's one thing to allow cameras to come into your home, film endless hours of every single thing you do and have an unbiased director edit the movie to show this or that aspect of her story. Don't get me wrong, I like Beyoncé. I believe that she's a perfectionist when it comes down to her live performances and appearances. Her father, also acting as her former manager, has taught her well and has made her be the superstar that she is today. Ever since she was a teenager and formed her all girl band, followed by Destiny's Child, then her solo career Beyoncé has played all her cards very well and has landed her on the top of the music world. There is no denying her talent and showmanship.When it comes to revealing all in front of her laptop camera, which she carries everywhere she goes, is a different story. There's nothing engaging or much revealing to see in Life, it's more of an outlet for Beyoncé to talk about her frustration, creative stumps that come along the way, her father whom she had to "fire" as her manager since there was no differentiation between work and family. All I have to say is Beyoncé suffers from a "poor rich girl" syndrome. Are we supposed to feel sorry for her?Among many other scenes, Beyoncé is lying in bed, baring no make-up, and says in a grave, deep voice "there's so much going on" before turning her lamp light off, leaving us wondering "what is going on?". Later, in her interview with Oprah, she says how it was so difficult to choose what to reveal and what not to reveal in the documentary yet she doesn't reveal much. Kind of contradictory, don't you think?One thing that she makes absolutely clear is that she carried her daughter's pregnancy instead of using a surrogate mother. I always believed that to be true and I did sense that she was hurt when she realized how a "harmless" gossip gets started and messes with an artist's head, much like Michael Jackson. She also reveals how she lost her first baby two years prior and her latest album carries a song where she pours her feelings about her loss, which I thought was real and heart breaking. In general, I thought Beyoncé: Life Is But a Dream borrows from many other documentaries like Madonna: Truth Or Dare, or U2's Rattle and Hum, Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter or everything we've seen on MTV over the years. Nothing new, something we've come to expect already. I feel Beyoncé was really careful with how much she revealed but in the process left many questions unanswered. I guess that's what happens when you're the director of your own documentary? What should be the title to my documentary? The Many Faces of Italo? Hmmmm… Let me start working on that

... View More
arelis-852-329586

Had they gone into Beyonce's upbringing, childhood and family more, it could have been interesting. But, it is really sanitized, obviously left out anything for the public to learn about the real Beyonce. If this is truly a documentary about her true life, well then she is incredibly boring. The opposite purpose of what documentaries are supposed to be about. Jay Z comes off a bit lame. She comes off as a bit annoying because she goes on about how she is the verdict of her Grandmaother's prayers, and too much on her connection with God. If they added something a general person can relate to that would have helped, but the director can't be very proud of this one. If he is, he doesn't have much to offer moving forward

... View More
llundber

Beyonce the Great had her name and hands on every bit of this production.Do not waste your time on this. I only watched because a friend wanted to see what a train wreck it would be, and it was.I love how she set up the false interview situation, how she begged sympathy and empathy, how the intrigue with her father was a big nothing, and on and on.Vacuous, egotistical, brainless. That's Miss B. Unfortunately, that is now the role model for so many youth.

... View More