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She sang the National Anthem at the Presidential Inauguration. She shot the lights out performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Now she has a documentary. Beyonce bared her life, her soul, and her overall amazing-ness for all to see in ‘Life Is But A Dream!’

Considering how big Jay-Z and Beyonce are, there is not a more subdued, more private celebrity couple around. Remember how long it took for them to admit that they were dating!? That’s why Beyonce’s self-directed HBO documentary, Life Is But a Dream, is such a huge deal — it’s our first real all-access pass into the life of Beyonce Knowles.

Beyonce Opens Up About Her Dad

The movie begins very fittingly, with Queen B finally fully stepping out on her own.

Two years ago, Beyonce went through the hardest fight in her life — she decided to fire her father, Mathew Knowles, as her manager. He had held the position for pretty much Bey’s entire life.

“I felt like it was time for me to set up my future,” Beyonce says, “So I set up a goal, and my goal was independence.”

Besides needing to fend for herself, B also explains that she wanted to separate family from business for good: “At some point you need your support system — you need your daddy.”

And in a heartbreaking moment, Beyonce responds to the question of whether or not she got her dad back: “No — it was hard. I had to sacrifice my relationship with my dad.”

The Next Man In Beyonce’s Life: Jay-Z

“I love me some Jay-Z,” Beyonce announces to the audience at the 2011 Billboard Awards.

The movie showed us basically what we already knew — that Jay and Bey are the perfect couple. His love for his megastar wife and baby momma is basically oozing through his pores — he’s protective over her, he laughs with her, and he takes great pride in her. We saw all of that in the amazing photograph immediately after Beyonce’s halftime performance — that blissful embrace spoke volumes — but we could truly feel it in snippets throughout the documentary.

Umm, that footage of Jay and Bey singing “Yellow” by Coldplay to each other? The best thing I’ve ever seen.

Beyonce admits that Jay-Z perfectly allows her to be that fierce, independent woman while also being completely in love. “You’ve given me so much in life,” she tells Jay-Z in a sweet moment. “Every year I’m even more in love with you.”

Beyonce Overcomes A Tragic Blow

The sharper end of the all-access sword is having to hear tremendously sad stories. Beyonce’s dark hole after suffering a miscarriage is one of these hard-to-watch moments.

“Something happens when you hear the heartbeat,” Beyonce intimately tells the camera, “I picked out names. I was very maternal. My first child — with the man I love.”

And as she was feeling on top of the world, fate dealt her an awful hand. As she tragically but poetically puts it, “I flew back to New York to get my checkup and… no heartbeat.”

But Then There’s Blue Ivy

Seeing Beyonce light up feeling her baby kick inside her is a great moment — you can feel what she’s gone through and almost touch her newfound happiness. Now we know why that MTV VMAs moment was so triumphant!

We can admit why we were extra excited for Life Is But a Dream – to see Blue Ivy Carter! This is pretty much only the second time we’ve been allowed to see the heir to Watch the Throne, so the movie was really just a special opportunity for us to see the magic that is Blue Ivy.

And, sorry Bey, but that little girl looks just like her daddy.

It’s always nice to see huge stars — who usually seem so unaffected — so clearly obsessed and in love with something. That something for Beyonce is Blue Ivy. “It was the most beautiful experience in my life,” Beyonce says about giving birth.

That adorable little girl is Beyonce’s reason now — everything she does is devoted to her daughter, and that’s amazing and heartwarming.

From Destiny’s Child To ’4′

The first shot of Life Is But a Dream flashes from a precious home video of a toddler-aged Beyonce to a full-grown woman, performing “Crazy in Love” to tens of thousands of fans. And really, her rise to superstar status feels like it happened just as fast.

Thinking about the length of Beyonce’s career can make a Gen Y’er feel really old. I mean seriously — “Bills, Bills, Bills” came out in 1999. In the film, Beyonce seemed just as surprised about how long and fruitful and winding her career has been. But her self-confidence, fearlessness, and strength as an artist can’t be overstated.

From a young girl in Destiny’s Child, to a sexy solo “Crazy in Love” artist, to pretty much the end-all, be-all when it comes to female performers, Beyonce has powered through the harder times and has always looked amazing and humble doing it.

Beyonce is a mother, a daughter, a diva, a wife, a performer, a boss, a business, a champion for women, a visionary. Her life truly is a dream, and it’s one that we love following.

HollywoodLifers – what did you think of Beyonce’s up close and personal documentary? Let us know!

– Andrew Gruttadaro

More On Beyonce’s HBO Documentary, ‘Life Is But A Dream’:

1. Beyonce: ‘Life Is But A Dream’ Trailer — Documentary Shows B’s First Sonogram In Documentary
2. Beyonce’s Miscarriage Pain Revealed — HBO Documentary: ‘Life Is But A Dream’
3. Beyonce’s Baby Bump — Her Own Home Video, Filmed For HBO Documentary