Customer Reviews

Death By Design/The Life and Times of Life and Times

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I saw this on World Link TV one night when nothing else was on. I was completely captivated, enchanted, blown away. Words cannot describe this film or the way it shifted/stretched my consciousness. I felt like a child being playfully tossed into the air of a greater understanding of (and trust in) how the entire intelligent universe unfolds itself. A complete joy! I've got to find this on DVD....

This documentary will test your understanding of corporeal existence in the way major psychotropics used to in the sixties, only without the hangover. It is a misleading title, though once you watch it you'll get it. The "death by design" is also referred to as "programmed cell death" and it is a detailed explanation and deconstruction of cellular resurrection and rebirth on orders of billions of times per second; what makes us "us." It is how cells communicate with each other and survive for the good of the whole. Move. Divide. Stay where you are. Become something else. Kill. Commit suicide. Die. It will astound you and give you a perspective of life that damn near reaches divine inspiration. Just get passed the graduate film school opening credit sequence and sit back with jaw dropped. You won't regret it and you will demand that your friends watch it, too. Especially if you're in the right head.

I remember vividly seeing this film on TV. I was in Europe on business, jet-lagged, unable to sleep at 2AM. So I flipped on the TV and this came on. The title and opening few minutes made me almost change the channel, but I'm sure glad I stayed with it, because it just engrosses you. Seeing this film and learning about aptosis ("programmed cell death") have been very important/helpful to me, in hindsight.

I recall a quote in a book, something like "zen is what happens after you've spent enough time thinking about death", or words to that effect.

Embryology or Developmental Biology is very fascinating and understanding how and why cells die could have been discussed with greater detail. Even in 1997, there was some interesting theories about cell life and death along with ways cell communicate with each other. This film takes up too much time being artistic to demonstrate some simple ideas. Some of the imagery was great, but I got bored throughout the film.

"Death By Design the Life and Times of Life and Times" is an astounding look at life as we know it - at the tiniest cellular level.

This is one of the very best films I've seen, and proves to be an essential step to consciousness and enlightenment. The information in "Death by Design" is wonderfully enhanced with useful graphical representations. The filmmakers went above and beyond to make complex, esoteric terms easier to understand by use of imagery and apperception. Viewers will see microscopic elements, pictorial theories, and discussions with a variety of experts in the USA, Europe, and abroad.

It makes sense that, "to live is to die." Such programming exists in human life, animal kingdom, and even in the subatomic world of particles. This explains how or why death occurs and also examines dis-eases, such as cancer; how cells live, communicate, mate, divide, consume each other, disappear, and ultimately die by instructed suicide.

This is a must-see film, especially recommended for those in the sciences, RSE students, and others whom enjoyed, "What the Bleep." Viewers will learn that death is an implemented design that is part of the same "design of life" [and everyday times] as the title references.

DEATH BY DESIGN (1997)
directed by Jean-Francois Brunet & Peter Friedman
approx 70 minutes

This movie is on the unusual subject of the way cells die. Other processes such as cell communication and division are also covered but the main issue here is the idea that cells are sent a signal to die and "commit suicide". Several experts speak on the subject and hypothesize that maybe the reason it hasn't been discussed is due to mankind's inherent fear of death. My favorite interview subject in the movie is Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini, one of the first to study the cell death process. Her sister, Paola Rita Levi-Montalcini was a painter whose work used themes of life and death and some of it is shown here.

The movie is made in an interesting way, juxtaposing stock footage and shots from microscopes. One part I liked in particular was the grainy clip of the dancers from an old musical edited with gray science shots of cell division. The soundtrack switches between classical and neo-classical for effect.

Although there are few subjects in the world less emotional than cellular biology, the way this movie is put together adds a bit of lyricism to the "design".

This is an amazing film. What it lacks in high tech is made up for in good old fashioned education. I have leukemia and watching this film changed the way that I think about what is going on in my body and what I can do to try to change it. Cells basically behave like supernovas. They also communicate, commit suicide, kill each other, have communities, etc. Who knew?

Excellent info. Confirmed my view that life on earth did not begin on earth. Info presented very well.