Before George Lucas became world-famous as the man who invented the Star Wars universe, he was just another typical film student creating independent short films for classes at USC. "Look at Life", his very first film, was made for a course he took while at school where each student was apparently required to create an approximately one-minute short. When viewing it with a critical eye, it is not an exceptional work by any means, (at least by the standards of conventional filmmaking) and yet, considering the restrictions of the assignment, it does about the most any filmmaker could do with a one minute duration. The fact it was his directorial debut on top of all this makes it seem even more impressive on its own merit.
With a title like "Look at Life", one would typically expect a thoughtful, nostalgic sort of film - but this is not so. Indeed, the short starts out rather quiet and harmonious, but quickly shifts into a rambunctious, energetic feel as a rapid photo montage flashes by, including a variety of black and white images with loud music. Lucas's first film is considered by many to be a political one in how many of the pictures are news-centered, but I would personally say he was just trying to create an interesting look at life, just as the title says. When one takes into consideration that this one-minute movie is where one of the greatest men in Hollywood started out, it becomes worth a look if only for that very reason. Even without that perspective, I saw it because I've always enjoyed independent/experimental films, and thought it was a nice little collection of images.
