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A FILM UNFINISHEDMovie Reviews
German language documentary that combines intact, raw footage of a film made by the Nazis about the Warsaw Ghetto with contemporary interviews of survivors of the Ghetto. Cast:Alexander Beyer, Rüdiger VoglerDirector:Yael HersonskiRelease Date:August 18, 2010DVD Release:March 8, 2011From:OscilloscopeRating:RLength:1 hr. 28 min.
MARCH 8, 2011
A Film Unfinished, Sensational Reviews (Doc) Key Cities
A Film Unfinished played in key cities to sensational reviews. • Colin Covert wrote in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "...transforms 60 minutes of silent, unedited Nazi propaganda film into an electrifying essay on film's ability to falsify history." • And Chris Vognar wrote in the Dallas Morning News, "...remarkable... an essential statement on why we bear witness." More Reviews Below...
A Film Unfinished Positive Reviews (31 Reviews, reviews below)
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...profound and vital... A missing reel, discovered in 1998, demonstrates the degree to which the Nazis manipulated the 'nonfiction' they photographed..."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 242 words, 08/13/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (12 Reviews)
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...remarkable as much for its speculative restraint as for its philosophical reach.... a palimpsest of impressions from multiple, meticulously researched sources..."(See all of Jeannette Catsoulis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 793 words, 08/18/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...provocative and disturbing... another indication of the malleability of the documentary form, of how it can be turned to anyone's purposes in the blink of an eye."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 657 words, 08/20/10
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...the movie ratings board has slapped this film with an R rating because it contains a fleeting scene of nudity set in a ritual bath. Shame on them..."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 342 words, 08/18/10
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...reveals the appalling truth behind a cinematic lie.... The film transcends its own mission of simply setting the historical record straight."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 512 words, 10/01/10
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: EXCELLENT "...transcends even its images of suffering and death... It becomes a meditation on the dual nature of film, on a 'reality' at once true and false, essential and tainted."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 224 words, 08/16/10
Ella Taylor, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "...sets a crucial historical record straight... Here again, and necessarily so, we witness bodies lying in the streets while the (barely) living walk by in seeming indifference."(See all of Ella Taylor's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 478 words, 08/18/10
Jason Anderson, Toronto Star: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Hersonski has renewed the power of these images by exposing the lies they tried to tell and the truths they couldn't entirely conceal."(See all of Jason Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 605 words, 09/24/10
Stephen Cole, Toronto Globe & Mail: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a harrowing, unsettling journey - a terribly moving document. The most compelling sequences allow survivors to refute their torturers' lies."(See all of Stephen Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 578 words, 09/24/10
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...may not be the strangest making-of documentary you've ever seen. It may, however, be the most affecting.... poignant and disturbing."(See all of Michael O'Sullivan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 532 words, 09/24/10
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...extraordinary, powerful, disturbing... If a picture tells a thousand stories, these pictures tell the stories of hundreds of thousands - soon to be put to their death."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 395 words, 10/15/10
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...transforms 60 minutes of silent, unedited Nazi propaganda film into an electrifying essay on film's ability to falsify history."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 101 words, 03/04/11
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...remarkable... an essential statement on why we bear witness. The film pulls back the curtain on a deadly PR machine and forces us to consider its deceptions."(See all of Chris Vognar's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 309 words, 11/05/10
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...tackles issues of memory, history, intent -- the lies of propaganda as they bend the truth of what we see.... devastating..."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 604 words, 09/24/10
Stephen Whitty, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...built around an astonishing bit of found footage... There is only about an hour of it, but around it filmmaker Yael Hersonski has built a striking feature."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 521 words, 11/05/10
Leba Hertz, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "Whether pretend or real, the scenes will haunt you.... a history lesson about the Holocaust well worth teaching."(See all of Leba Hertz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 346 words, 10/01/10
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "It would be remarkable (and chilling) enough to simply watch the old footage, some of which is badly decaying... But Hersonski adds two more levels to the experience."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 369 words, 10/15/10
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: EXCELLENT(cg) "...a powerful, haunting documentary about work done by Nazi film crews in the Warsaw ghetto in the spring of 1942, just before mass deportations of Jews..."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 350 words, 10/22/10
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...reclaims history, teaches a lesson about the reliability of images... the diligence of 'A Film Unfinished' convinces us that truth is a riddle with a final solution."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 338 words, 11/26/10
Ella Taylor, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "...sets a crucial historical record straight... Here again, and necessarily so, we witness bodies lying in the streets while the (barely) living walk by in seeming indifference."(See all of Ella Taylor's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 478 words, 08/18/10
Andrew Schenker, Slant: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a privileged look at not only a valuable archival document but at the ways in which the historical record can be manipulated as easily as a frame of film..."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 848 words, 08/16/10
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...remarkable as much for its speculative restraint as for its philosophical reach.... a palimpsest of impressions from multiple, meticulously researched sources..."(See all of Jeannette Catsoulis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 793 words, 08/18/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...provocative and disturbing... another indication of the malleability of the documentary form, of how it can be turned to anyone's purposes in the blink of an eye."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 657 words, 08/20/10
Todd McCarthy, Daily Variety: GOOD "...made in a careful, academic manner, with editing and explanations making everything clear and answering most questions viewers could raise."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 622 words, 02/05/10
John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD "...tough viewing but has clear value.... Hersonski enriches this evidence by bringing in survivors of the ghetto, who tell stories of life there while watching the film themselves."(See all of John DeFore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 363 words, 01/26/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...provocative and disturbing... another indication of the malleability of the documentary form, of how it can be turned to anyone's purposes in the blink of an eye."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 657 words, 08/20/10
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...remarkable as much for its speculative restraint as for its philosophical reach.... a palimpsest of impressions from multiple, meticulously researched sources..."(See all of Jeannette Catsoulis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 793 words, 08/18/10
12.3 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
A Film Unfinished's reviews are separated by an average 12.3 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
A Film Unfinished (31 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:A Film Unfinished's reviews cover 32.8% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 13,691 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 442 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
A Film Unfinished Coverage, Volume & Length (31 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 17 Days After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
A Film Unfinished's reviews on average broke 17 days after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is A Film Unfinished's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
A Film Unfinished (31 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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