Review for We Live in Public

We Live in Public is a revealing 2009 documentary by Ondi Timoner about Josh Harris, 'the greatest internet pioneer you've never heard of'. With a DVD packed to the brim with special features it's a necessary purchase for anyone who is interested in the rise and fall of a man during the early stages of the internet. There is no point in writing a pompous review with references to what is 'good' and what is 'bad'. This documentary lives beyond those one-dimensional definitions. Just watch this sophisticated trailer, it tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about the man and the myth. Uncut said it best when they understood We Live in Public is 'reminiscent of an early David Cronenberg sci-fi horror' film...

Dogwoof Pictures will release this 88-minute documentary on the 5th April. The special features include:-

· Josh Harris Audio Commentary (88min)

Revealing and honest - it's almost impossible to get your subject matter to talk about his life in such truthful and endearing terms. This has to be one of the best commentary tracks available on any DVD.

· Ondi Timoner Audio Commentary (88min)

Slow-paced and boring track, which gives the audience information we already hear in the documentary voice-over.

· Behind The Scenes: Sundance 09 (11min)

On the 19th January 2009, We Live in Public premiered at Sundance. This featurette charts the journey of the first screening with candid sequences from the cast and crew.


· Making Of… with Ondi Timoner (10min)

Interview with Ondi about her career as a documentary filmmaker, her talk-to-camera documentary about asking strangers intimate questions seems like a fascinating piece. She also talks about directing The Nature of the Beast (1994), DiG! (2004) and Join Us (2007).

· Josh Commentary Video Highlights (5min)

Video highlights of Josh Harris recording his audio commentary. It's amazing that Josh refused to watch the film until he decided to do this commentary.


· Inside The Bunker: The Pods (3min)

The designer of the 'capsule hotels' talks about the live-in installation that was made for the Quiet: We Live in Public experiment.


· Inside The Bunker: Guns (4min)

A firing range with automatic weapons was installed in the underground bunker. They got away with this by getting a film permit. They also got attractive young females to shot Uzi's and Shotguns.


Verdict: It's interesting to see how technology has invaded our life's, with our mobile phones, i-pods, and whatnot, it seems that Josh hit alienation on its head in the early 90s - we are all islands unto our Facebook, MySpace and YouTube selves. Is Josh Harris a lunatic or a genius? Watch We Live in Public and make up your own mind. As Jamiroquai says, 'futures made of virtual insanity'. Ask yourself this, how would the world change and what would you do if you woke up tomorrow and there was no internet? It just disappeared. It's a scary thought...