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Occupied Citydocumentary

De Bezette Stad

2023

Steve McQueen

Documentary, Narrator: Melanie Hyams

6.2

Documentary Amsterdam under Nazi occupation during World War II, between the years 1940 and 1945.

	Media	Author	Review
		Fionnuala Halligan Screendaily	"After four hours, there's no sense you know the city, present or past… Instead you are haunted by it"
		David Ehrlich IndieWire	"It reflects a world that's inundated with the raw facts of history like never before. Both in spite of and because of its tedium, it recognizes that how we relate to those facts will determine the future we inherit from them"
		Tomris Laffly The Wrap	"Epic holocaust documentary is a disquieting cinematic essay"
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"Steve McQueen’s moving meditation on wartime Amsterdam (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Owen Gleiberman Variety	"Four hours long but only an inch deep (...) a one-note meditation on past and present"
		Sheri Linden The Hollywood Reporter	"Steve McQueen Breaks with doc convention in a provocative look at Amsterdam during World War II"
		Matthew Carey Deadline	"It takes its place alongside essential documentaries on the genocidal impact of Nazism across Europe"
		Kevin Maher The Times	"A labour of love and an invaluable historical document is ultimately undone by the punishing running time of this mega-documentary (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Robbie Collin Telegraph	"Hypnotic study of an Amsterdam still haunted by Nazis (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Charles Bramesco The Playlist	"An experiment more effective in concept than practice as it tests the line between exhaustive and exhausting"
		Luke Hicks The Film Stage	"Bravery doesn’t equal great art. It’s just a rung on the ladder. And in the case of 'Occupied City', it’s one of the only rungs on an unscalable ladder"
		Manohla Dargis The New York Times	"As 'Occupied City' continues to juxtapose the city's history with its present, the film builds tremendous force"
		Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"A masterful panorama of WWII-era Amsterdam"
		Nick Schager The Daily Beast	"Overwhelms via length and monotony, employing a challenging form that’s both its greatest strength and, ultimately, its most frustrating weakness"
		Kambole Campbell Time Out	"While it can be a lot to take in, 'Occupied City' is a poignant sociological portrait (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Robert Daniels rogerebert.com	"Every film is a collection of moving images, but few are as moving as the sights that compose 'Occupied City' (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Anna McKibbin Paste Magazine	"A demanding watch, but this cinematic gamble is singular and rewarding in its emotional intelligence"
		Ankit Jhunjhunwala The Playlist	"The film isn't entirely a hack job. The research is undoubtedly thorough and admirable and despite the presentation, the anecdotes do interest you as this is a side of Amsterdam most viewers would be unfamiliar with"
		Therese Lacson Collider	"If you look closely, there is a connecting thread, but that thread is weak and made weaker by how shallow the documentary is at times"
		Sam Adams Slate	"The digital cinematography is harsh and glaring, so sharp that it rakes at your eyes"
		Phil de Semlyen Time Out	"Steve McQueen memorialises Amsterdam's Nazi occupation in a marathon doc that illuminates and frustrates in equal measure (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Wendy Ide The Guardian	"[It] feels more like a gallery installation (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Donald Clarke Irish Times	"The intertwining temporal spaghetti adds to the unsettling cumulative effect of a singular masterwork (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"

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