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Monrovia, Indiana

2018

Frederick Wiseman

Documentary

6.9

68

Documentary The film explores the conflicting stereotypes and illustrates how values like community service, duty, spiritual life, generosity and authenticity are formed, experienced and lived. The film gives a complex and nuanced view of daily life in farming Monrovia, Indiana -population of 1,083, founded in 1834- and provides some understanding of a rural, mid-American way of life that has always been important in America but whose influence and ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"There’s no fake news in a Wiseman documentary. 'Monrovia, Indiana' (...) it’s rigorously non-judgemental (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"The unavoidable political implications of 'Monrovia, Indiana' give its observations an undeniable urgency."	POS
United States	Richard Brody The New Yorker	"A calmly analytical film in which-as ever in Wiseman's work-extended discussions and public debates are developed with an absorbing dramatic power."	POS
United States	Deborah Young The Hollywood Reporter	"The film has its resonant moments (...) It may attract the attention of the director’s fans but is unlikely to go beyond (...) Everything feels slightly grotesque"	NEU
United States	Joe Morgenstern The Wall Street Journal	"The pace is slow over the course of 143 minutes, sometimes maddeningly so, even for a Wiseman documentary, but the film rewards patience."	POS
United Kingdom	Lee Marshall Screendaily	"A fine example of the way the director sculpts and moulds his material to create an arc that is both dramatic and poetic"	POS
United States	Guy Lodge Variety	"Pleasurably low-key (...) Its methodical gathering of material never quite brings us to a more stirring understanding of the lives under its lens"	NEU
United States	Chris Nashawaty Entertainment Weekly	"Few filmmakers can turn a mundane town council meeting about a library bench into a meditation on patriotism and civic responsibility the way Wiseman can."	POS
United States	Glenn Kenny rogerebert.com	"There’s an implication of a testament here that makes 'Monrovia, Indiana' unalike in a poignant way.(…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Eric Kohn IndieWire	"More impressionistic than intellectual, Wiseman's latest is yet more proof of his abilities as a master image-maker."	POS

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