killed it again joe 😭 that leaf blower analogy was great, also had no clue don inspired the birth of adult swim. gonna go look at leaves and bricks now or somethin
On New Years Day, 01/01/2023, the moment my family erupted in celebration, I wasn't able to even crack a smile at the occasion because that day I began to wonder why we even massively celebrate JUST another day passing. "Isn't everyday New Years?" I thought, some people call it a day to honor the accomplishments we all made throughout the year, or a day to count our blessings, but I thought I haven't accomplished anything. With that belief in mind, I used it as motivation as sturdy as a stack of cards to push myself through the next few months, trying to make worthy accomplishments that I could look back on and celebrate in the New Year, but with every passing day feeling like a reflection of tomorrow, with my head in the future in celebration, but painfully living in the present, I began to let go of making any sort of accomplishments. Living to achieve goals began to make no sense, and soon after, I started questioning everything I did in my life from school, to work, to giving my family any attention, what was the point of it all. Into the following year (this year), living began to feel like I was only spectating my life, living outside of my own body, following a path I was chained to in the timeline of the universe in which my passion for art of all kinds would be conquered by the ever-raging storm of capitalism that would need my mindless labor, draining my creativity. My social interactions have become numb, as if people were speaking to a shell of myself, all because every moment in my life is plagued with provoking the question, "why". I don't want to submit to the life of living in reflections of a tomorrow where I have money and "accomplishments". This movie has shown me not the purpose for my life, but through Billy's, it was made apparent through the mundane and all, we are in some way meant to bask in the beauty of each precious moment we have in our short cycle of life, because in our gorgeous incomprehensibly complex world, there is always something new to notice to appreciate, whether it's the way a soldier ant brings the colony to retrieve the crumbs of a chip in the crack of a concrete road, or the way that the sun pierces through the trees in the morning to proclaim in harmonious victory with the birds chirping and the breeze humming that yet another of life has been gifting us all, thus from this day forward, I WILL celebrate just another day passing, and be grateful for it all.
I had the opportunity to see a Don Hertzfeldt double feature of "ME" and "It's Such a Beautiful Day" in the theater recently. That was quite the experience.
Do you think that bill’s bat represents his unknown illness. I know you labeled his disease as a brain tumor but we don’t really know. It appears throughout the movie even on different characters other than bill. I’m really enamored by this detail was wondering if you had thoughts.
Ooh thats an interesting point. I guess I assumed brain tumor from all the scans and questionnaires they did (and his memory loss towards the end) but you might be onto something! The bat was honestly not something Id caught on to. I’ll have to keep that in mind next time I rewatch
An idea I'm drawn to about the dust (as illuminated in the hospital room) and moonlight is that neither are light sources in an of themselves. They're only reflecting the light of the sun. They're only visible because something else is shining on them, because of what they reflect. I believe another (though not necessarily "more correct") way to interpret the narrator's ending is that it's literally true of all of us, in a couple of different ways. The "dust" that our bodies become is recycled - which is reinforced by Bill's earlier observation that the matter that makes up our bodies is turning over constantly - and we will become a small part of everyone, participating in everything they do, and ultimately everything that made up our physical being will indeed persist until the universe goes cold. Similarly, our "moonlight" will continue to be reflected in the world we interacted with - ripples of consequence that will persist long after our names and faces are forgotten. What we experienced will be reflected in what we know, and what we know is reflected in what we do, and what we do echoes into eternity.
Outstanding video essay dude. Well done! This film is my favorite because how beautifully it treats all of life’s moments. Finding happiness and peace in moments of agony and confusion is a feeling that helps guide me out of darkness. No movie is so amazing, heartbreaking, and authentic. I love animation so fucking much.
This film is incredible. Thank you for going into it with an eye for depth. This film was an incredible friend to me in some of my darkest days. I love seeing people talk about it. Don Hertzfeldt is a goated animator, I am deeply happy he exists.
Commenting for interaction boosts, disgustingly underviewed, was very happy to find this after finishing the film for myself, especially for highlighting the leaf blower scene and what it potentially represents
Very sweet video. Thanks for making it. My thoughts on it all, maybe we don't even become "dust and moonlight." Maybe we "become" nothing because we never were anything, because the self is the hallucination that breeds all other hallucinations. Maybe rhis appearance that we call "life" is made of nothing, which means there's no life, no death, no you, no me, just THIS which defies concepts, and anything which creates any sort of duality, any sort of a world where a "me" and a "not me," a subject and an object could possibly exist. THIS cannot even be called "existence" because that implies "non-existence." THIS cannot be contained by language. Even to call it "nothing," or a "nothing that is everything" falls infinitely far from the mark. Maybe the self is the veil that makes things appear temporal, solid, and separate, and that creates in each illusory self a yearning, a yearning that at it's deepest is the yearning for the illusory self's annihilation. And then it's recognized by no one that the self never was. There was never anything to annhilate, to create, to become, or overcome. Because there never was a "me," never anything behind anything. No God, no Self or self, soul or subject behind anything. The ultimate cosmic joke. For no one. Nothing ever but absolute total freedom. Again, for no one and nothing. Only wholeness appearing as everything; to feebly and mistakenly attempt to "eff" the ineffable. Lol.
Haha it was originally, the video just originally wasn't getting any traction and that was one of the things I tried to change to help it out. (Didnt really do much though to be honest, Don's theatre re-release is what got this video a bit more attention lol.) I might change it back sometime though
This movie is so incredible, and i found your analysis to be very interesting! I wish there was more videos like this one. Excited to see it again in theaters soon. Great Video!
I’m going to watch this film in a cinema on June 9 + Don’s new short film, so I watched this and it’s one of the best videos on YT. I made an analysis on this personal fav film and this analysis made great points about the ending, so great job :)
I just watched the same showing two days ago! His new short is dope, highest production value I’ve seen in a project by him. You’ll definitely enjoy it. Thanks for watching dude
amazing analysis, perfect summation of the themes and yet another motif i didn’t notice! there’s also the fish/general aquatic motifs, rocketships, the direction “left,” and of course the trains
I just saw it like a month or two ago! And yeah Ive noticed a big bump in attention since the theatrical re-release so I guess youtube knows what its doing lol
I really loved it and it was a sick experience to watch in theatres. More Don-branded existential dread for sure. I *really* want it to come out to streaming/digital/whatever so I can rewatch it and sit with it some more though and come up with some more solid thoughts on it, maybe another video essay as well lol
@@JoeDollyin I think I mostly understood it except the eyeball kid. I'm not sure if he just threw that in there to screw with us like the marimba players in the beginning before the actual film and after the short film. Learning how he made it's such a beautiful day was super fascinating too. I shoot film and know a little animation but I can't imagine how anxiously tedious all that would be.
@@AssistantLeaflet Yeah the whole "everyone obsessed with looking into their past/future selves" seems like pretty clear commentary but I havent quite wrapped my head around the eyeball kid either outside of the vague notion of it being the one thing that actually seemed grounded in the present. And yeah! The sheer detail and time needed for his film camera technique he used to use is something I could never have the patience for, its insane.
killed it again joe 😭 that leaf blower analogy was great, also had no clue don inspired the birth of adult swim. gonna go look at leaves and bricks now or somethin
On New Years Day, 01/01/2023, the moment my family erupted in celebration, I wasn't able to even crack a smile at the occasion because that day I began to wonder why we even massively celebrate JUST another day passing. "Isn't everyday New Years?" I thought, some people call it a day to honor the accomplishments we all made throughout the year, or a day to count our blessings, but I thought I haven't accomplished anything. With that belief in mind, I used it as motivation as sturdy as a stack of cards to push myself through the next few months, trying to make worthy accomplishments that I could look back on and celebrate in the New Year, but with every passing day feeling like a reflection of tomorrow, with my head in the future in celebration, but painfully living in the present, I began to let go of making any sort of accomplishments. Living to achieve goals began to make no sense, and soon after, I started questioning everything I did in my life from school, to work, to giving my family any attention, what was the point of it all. Into the following year (this year), living began to feel like I was only spectating my life, living outside of my own body, following a path I was chained to in the timeline of the universe in which my passion for art of all kinds would be conquered by the ever-raging storm of capitalism that would need my mindless labor, draining my creativity. My social interactions have become numb, as if people were speaking to a shell of myself, all because every moment in my life is plagued with provoking the question, "why". I don't want to submit to the life of living in reflections of a tomorrow where I have money and "accomplishments". This movie has shown me not the purpose for my life, but through Billy's, it was made apparent through the mundane and all, we are in some way meant to bask in the beauty of each precious moment we have in our short cycle of life, because in our gorgeous incomprehensibly complex world, there is always something new to notice to appreciate, whether it's the way a soldier ant brings the colony to retrieve the crumbs of a chip in the crack of a concrete road, or the way that the sun pierces through the trees in the morning to proclaim in harmonious victory with the birds chirping and the breeze humming that yet another of life has been gifting us all, thus from this day forward, I WILL celebrate just another day passing, and be grateful for it all.
Damn dude, this was beautiful, Im glad the film had such a profound impact on you
this is genuinely such a well-written comment 👏
"really, it was more of just an innate feeling..." Me on the entire film.
Anyways, great video.
Dude yeah it is so hard to put into words sometimes but… did my best lmao
I had the opportunity to see a Don Hertzfeldt double feature of "ME" and "It's Such a Beautiful Day" in the theater recently. That was quite the experience.
my all time favourite movie. genuinely life changing
This movie needs more attention. Don hertzfeldt needs more attention. Thank you for making this video to make people more aware of this masterpiece
Get busy living, or get busy dying ☀️ 🌕
The term from Zen Buddhism, "everyday sacred," might be relevant to this film and this critique.
it was beautiful. thank you.
Do you think that bill’s bat represents his unknown illness. I know you labeled his disease as a brain tumor but we don’t really know. It appears throughout the movie even on different characters other than bill. I’m really enamored by this detail was wondering if you had thoughts.
Ooh thats an interesting point. I guess I assumed brain tumor from all the scans and questionnaires they did (and his memory loss towards the end) but you might be onto something! The bat was honestly not something Id caught on to. I’ll have to keep that in mind next time I rewatch
An idea I'm drawn to about the dust (as illuminated in the hospital room) and moonlight is that neither are light sources in an of themselves. They're only reflecting the light of the sun. They're only visible because something else is shining on them, because of what they reflect.
I believe another (though not necessarily "more correct") way to interpret the narrator's ending is that it's literally true of all of us, in a couple of different ways. The "dust" that our bodies become is recycled - which is reinforced by Bill's earlier observation that the matter that makes up our bodies is turning over constantly - and we will become a small part of everyone, participating in everything they do, and ultimately everything that made up our physical being will indeed persist until the universe goes cold. Similarly, our "moonlight" will continue to be reflected in the world we interacted with - ripples of consequence that will persist long after our names and faces are forgotten.
What we experienced will be reflected in what we know, and what we know is reflected in what we do, and what we do echoes into eternity.
I love this
Love Don so much!
Outstanding video essay dude. Well done! This film is my favorite because how beautifully it treats all of life’s moments. Finding happiness and peace in moments of agony and confusion is a feeling that helps guide me out of darkness. No movie is so amazing, heartbreaking, and authentic. I love animation so fucking much.
Couldn't have said it better myself dude. Im dying waiting for another Don Hertzfeldt project tbh. Thanks for watchin!
This film is incredible. Thank you for going into it with an eye for depth. This film was an incredible friend to me in some of my darkest days. I love seeing people talk about it.
Don Hertzfeldt is a goated animator, I am deeply happy he exists.
Thanks for the kind words dude :)
Commenting for interaction boosts, disgustingly underviewed, was very happy to find this after finishing the film for myself, especially for highlighting the leaf blower scene and what it potentially represents
Very sweet video. Thanks for making it. My thoughts on it all, maybe we don't even become "dust and moonlight." Maybe we "become" nothing because we never were anything, because the self is the hallucination that breeds all other hallucinations. Maybe rhis appearance that we call "life" is made of nothing, which means there's no life, no death, no you, no me, just THIS which defies concepts, and anything which creates any sort of duality, any sort of a world where a "me" and a "not me," a subject and an object could possibly exist. THIS cannot even be called "existence" because that implies "non-existence." THIS cannot be contained by language. Even to call it "nothing," or a "nothing that is everything" falls infinitely far from the mark. Maybe the self is the veil that makes things appear temporal, solid, and separate, and that creates in each illusory self a yearning, a yearning that at it's deepest is the yearning for the illusory self's annihilation. And then it's recognized by no one that the self never was. There was never anything to annhilate, to create, to become, or overcome. Because there never was a "me," never anything behind anything. No God, no Self or self, soul or subject behind anything. The ultimate cosmic joke. For no one. Nothing ever but absolute total freedom. Again, for no one and nothing. Only wholeness appearing as everything; to feebly and mistakenly attempt to "eff" the ineffable. Lol.
This is beautiful, but my existential crisis just got bigger than it already was 😭
YEEEAAAAAA JOOOOEEEE (brb gotta watch the movie first)
Love this movie got my very first tattoo dedicated to it
Oh thats dope! Im considering that as well sometime down the line
Great video, you really deserve more views!
Thank you man! Appreciate cha even takin the time to watch :)
@@JoeDollyin Well, I just couldn't pass up a 17 minute video essay about my favorite movie :)
Really great video man!! I fucking love ISABD and you perfectly said what I thought about the film as well. An absolute masterpiece.
holy crap it's illusioner from letterboxd
Love this video essay. I really loved your take on the “Dust and moonlight” line. Can’t wait to check out your other videos!
Thank you for this. Incredible analysis of this incredible film.
Amazing video man thank you for this. Truly.
I love the ending message also fuck the moon jk
7:46 Out of curiosity, how come you *didn't* make that the title?
Haha it was originally, the video just originally wasn't getting any traction and that was one of the things I tried to change to help it out. (Didnt really do much though to be honest, Don's theatre re-release is what got this video a bit more attention lol.) I might change it back sometime though
This movie is so incredible, and i found your analysis to be very interesting! I wish there was more videos like this one. Excited to see it again in theaters soon. Great Video!
I’m going to watch this film in a cinema on June 9 + Don’s new short film, so I watched this and it’s one of the best videos on YT. I made an analysis on this personal fav film and this analysis made great points about the ending, so great job :)
I just watched the same showing two days ago! His new short is dope, highest production value I’ve seen in a project by him. You’ll definitely enjoy it. Thanks for watching dude
I'm seeing this in the theater next friday. SO excited
I’m seeing it in June!! Its gonna be dope
84 views is a crime
Haha thank you so much man!
amazing analysis, perfect summation of the themes and yet another motif i didn’t notice! there’s also the fish/general aquatic motifs, rocketships, the direction “left,” and of course the trains
@@mythstcg I know! So much to dive into I feel like I have to make a 2nd video someday lol
I literally just saw this in theaters, I think UA-cam is watching me
I just saw it like a month or two ago! And yeah Ive noticed a big bump in attention since the theatrical re-release so I guess youtube knows what its doing lol
No tengo idea de lo que dijo, pero solo se que es de mis películas favoritas
I made my sister watch rejected, and she attacked me and gave me the middle finger, still worth it.
@@EllaAnimates543 Youre doing the lords work
*weh*
Fucking great video
What did you think of the new short film ME?
I really loved it and it was a sick experience to watch in theatres. More Don-branded existential dread for sure. I *really* want it to come out to streaming/digital/whatever so I can rewatch it and sit with it some more though and come up with some more solid thoughts on it, maybe another video essay as well lol
@@JoeDollyin I think I mostly understood it except the eyeball kid. I'm not sure if he just threw that in there to screw with us like the marimba players in the beginning before the actual film and after the short film. Learning how he made it's such a beautiful day was super fascinating too. I shoot film and know a little animation but I can't imagine how anxiously tedious all that would be.
@@AssistantLeaflet Yeah the whole "everyone obsessed with looking into their past/future selves" seems like pretty clear commentary but I havent quite wrapped my head around the eyeball kid either outside of the vague notion of it being the one thing that actually seemed grounded in the present. And yeah! The sheer detail and time needed for his film camera technique he used to use is something I could never have the patience for, its insane.
kino
this film Destroyed me first time i saw it cause me too was having brain probs and fears id die lmao
thought it was gonna be a silly movie omg