Life Is But a Dream

2013
6.5| 1h30m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 10 June 2013 Released
Producted By: HBO
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/beyonce/index.html
Synopsis

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.

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Director

Producted By

HBO

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Images

Reviews

UnowPriceless hyped garbage
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Stompgal_87 I saw the DVD of this documentary advertised on television quite some time ago and was interested in seeing it as a Beyoncé fan. She is beautiful, talented and has an incredible singing voice. Whilst renting it out, I found it intriguing with a great mix of cinematography albeit the pace being somewhat slow and a couple of lesser known, forgettable songs.While the cinematography looks crisp and professional with interesting camera movements for the most part, it was a tad amateurish in places with shaky camera-work and grainy pictures. Despite this, I liked the archive footage of Beyoncé as a child and a teenager as well as the camera panning above an illuminated city at night while rumours of Beyoncé hiring a surrogate mother are heard. The editing had some good variety to it by breaking up Beyoncé's narration with the archive footage, live performances and backstage footage. I liked the narration, the majority of it coming from 'Bouncy' (what my mum and maybe several other people call her) herself and I could relate to it in a way when she mentioned the difficult relationship with her father but in a professional sense. When I was 18, I had a difficult relationship with my parents, which is why I could relate to Beyoncé. The part that made me laugh the most was Beyoncé and possibly two other former Destiny's Child members singing along to 'Lovefool' by the Cardigans. The part that made me cry the most was towards the end when Beyoncé says her grandmother prayed for her mother, her mother prayed for Beyoncé and Beyoncé would pray for Blue Ivy, who was a cute baby and shown briefly. I also found the revelation of Beyoncé's miscarriage, which I was unaware of until shortly before I saw this documentary, moving as well as the lyrics of the song she wrote after that tragic event. Another part I found rather amusing yet clever was Beyoncé saying, "Life is But a Dream," before jumping off the boat and into the water since part of its title is 'Life Is But A Dream.' This also made me think of a line in the well-known nursery rhyme 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat.'With regard to the music, an essential asset to this documentary, there were some well- known songs such as 'Crazy In Love (despite finding the prior sound of buzzing bees scary);' 'Run The World (Girls),' which was performed in front of an impressive piece of projection mapping at the 2011 Billboard Awards; and the underrated 'Love On Top,' where Beyoncé announced her pregnancy with Blue Ivy at the end of it. While the incidental music was sparse but I could see why, it was beautiful, heartbreaking and funky in different places.Overall this is an engaging musical documentary despite the slow pace and two of the live songs I hadn't heard before. 8/10.
robocoprules I did not know what to expect when I watched this.I did think that musicians lives were easy (ish), I suppose, but she shows it is hard to be current and modern, and the amount of pressure she is under.I don't understand the other reviews when they say she did not reveal anything about herself, I felt she revealed as much as was appropriate to her. I hate celebrities that tell us everything about their lives.I like that Beyoncé is private, and I am much more interested in her work life and work ethic, which I feel is inspiring to watch.I enjoyed it.
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.
Jessie Max I feel like I've just seen a different film than a lot of the other reviewers here. I found it to be really warm, open and positive. It's a beautiful series of little moments all strung together, or a joining of the dots as Beyonce likes to put it. She's got a beautiful conversational tone throughout that feels like catching up with an old friend, there's a definite generosity of spirit there. What I found really interesting was her courageous approach to her life, she lets herself be vulnerable, questioning, fierce, sensitive, hard-edged and celebratory. She embraces all of herself in a very honest way. I really just enjoyed it for what it was.