58
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertBrave, heartless, and exceedingly strange, a quasi-documentary in which the actor Maximilian Schell mercilessly violates the privacy of his older sister, Maria.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranA thoughtful look backward, a summing up that attempts to understand what is ephemeral and what truly lasts, what it is that matters in the final analysis.
- 70Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesChicago ReaderJ.R. JonesMaximilian stresses that Maria was an icon in postwar Germany, yet the saddest thing about her isolation and disappointment is that it's so common.
- 70L.A. WeeklyElla TaylorL.A. WeeklyElla TaylorOne worries from scene to scene about whether the movie is a work of experimental art or just another ruthless intrusion into the life of a dying and, to some degree, broken woman. I'm willing to bet that Maximilian fretted over this too, for the film is as tense and fractured, as alienating -- and, finally, touching -- a work as it undoubtedly ought to be.
- 63Boston GlobeJanice PageBoston GlobeJanice PageArtful, especially in the ways it avoids sentimentality and employs vintage film clips of truly riveting performances...But Maximilian's narcissistic examination of his theatrical family -- can be boring, and his creative license with the truth is kind of troubling.
- 60Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonA heartfelt but eccentric, pseudo-documentary tribute to his sister Maria.
- 50Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldSeattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldIn many ways this is an extraordinary movie: there's probably never been such a portrait of a major star in the grip of old age.
- 25San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleIntrusive, excessively brooding and narcissistic.
- 20The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasDeeply personal and deeply silly.