EX LIBRIS: The New York Public Library
Zipporah Films | Release Date: September 13, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
91
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
1
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Little White LiesLillian CrawfordDec 29, 2021
It is undeniably a magnum opus, but one that has been refined to the briskness of a novella. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerOct 13, 2017
Ultimately “Ex Libris” demonstrates that libraries are about people, and what gives the film its great and accumulating force is that people are infinitely complex. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeTy BurrSep 27, 2017
Ex Libris has no narration and it lasts three hours and 17 minutes, which sounds like torture (or, alternately, 3½ episodes of “Game of Thrones”). Somewhat surprisingly, the movie rushes by at the speed of life. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranSep 22, 2017
Frederick Wiseman's Ex Libris: The New York Public Library is more than a magisterial mash note to that distinguished establishment, it’s a heartening examination of the vastness of human knowledge and the multiple ways we the people endeavor to access it. Read full review
100
The PlaylistJessica KiangSep 15, 2017
It’s a lovely, gracious, soul-satisfying thing. Read full review
100
The New York TimesManohla DargisSep 12, 2017
In “Ex Libris,” democracy is alive and in the hands of a forceful advocate and brilliant filmmaker, which helps make this one of the greatest movies of Mr. Wiseman’s extraordinary career and one of his most thrilling. Read full review
100
The GuardianJordan HoffmanSep 12, 2017
Ex Libris rolls out like a collection of short films.... It’s like watching Wiseman skip along through the stacks of all accumulated human knowledge. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungSep 11, 2017
Never talking down to his audience, he rather pulls them up to an intellectual level where other filmmakers fear to go. Read full review
100
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 11, 2017
These portraits don't have a hint of didacticism or preachiness, but "Ex Libris" achieves a certain emotional velocity all the same. Read full review
100
Time OutJoshua RothkopfSep 11, 2017
A film about the importance of cultural history and truth (two things deeply under siege these days), Wiseman’s epic Ex Libris might make you cry with happiness; it’s the good fight being fought. Movies aren’t usually a public benefit, much less an essential one. Here’s the exception. Read full review
100
Slant MagazineChuck BowenSep 10, 2017
Frederick Wiseman is a portraitist of ideals, of the insidious inspirations and nightmares that enable and undermine them, and, implicitly, of the political waves that have yet to balance this duality of first-world life. Read full review
91
The Film StageJose SolísSep 13, 2017
Who knew a documentary about the library could turn out to be the most thrilling political film of the year? Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiOct 25, 2017
To quote one of the nameless board members: “Libraries are the pillar of our democracy.” That couldn’t be more evident with Wiseman’s effective and engrossing film. When was the last time you renewed your library card? Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldOct 5, 2017
It’s a lovely, inspiring picture of a crucial institution; one which, as an employee describes, serves as “a warm, welcoming place that’s committed to education and committed to nurturing everyone’s passions and curiosities.” Read full review
88
Washington PostAlan ZilbermanSep 21, 2017
This is slow, almost languid filmmaking, yet it’s a delight to watch the countless ways in which the library is still capable of lifting us. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonSep 14, 2017
It is the library as an urgent idea, and the obligations that the institution’s leaders have embraced, that win Mr. Wiseman’s admiration and attention. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneSep 11, 2017
Graceful and all-embracing. Read full review
80
VarietyJay WeissbergSep 11, 2017
This is an enriching way to spend three-plus hours. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzSep 13, 2017
The film’s boundless enthusiasm for the idea of the library wins the day. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Sep 11, 2017
Maybe a little longer and more scattered than it needs to be, with one too many scenes that just plant the camera in front of a gabbing speaker. His early movies were more urgent, in part because they kept their focus narrower Read full review
70
Screen DailyLee MarshallSep 12, 2017
Shot and edited with Wiseman’s customary poetry and precision, Ex Libris is structured as a series of forays from the Library’s Fifth Avenue heart to its orbiting satellites, and back again. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleSep 12, 2017
It's as if Wiseman has taken his cue from the old style librarians and has wanted to give a portrait of a community but without the inevitable noise that goes with it, issuing one long "shhhhhhhhh". Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Carla Wintersgill Oct 19, 2017
It pains that this documentary was so tedious, since the New York Public Library is the crown jewel of public institutions, deserving of every accolade. If you want to spend three hours finding out what the library has to offer, save yourself the price of a movie ticket and head down to your local branch. Read full review
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