Francofonia

Name: Francofonia
Genre: Drama, History, Documentary
Released: April 1, 2016
Duration: 88 min
Rating: 71

2016

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

See All

5.1

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5.1	Your Score
5.1	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Francofonia (US)

Now Playing: Francofonia (US)

Movie Details & Credits

Music Box Films | Release Date: April 1, 2016 | Not Rated

Summary: A portrait of the Louvre transforms into a magisterial, centuries-spanning reflection on the relation between art, culture and power.

Director: Aleksandr Sokurov

Genre(s): Drama, History, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 88 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Steven Rea

May 6, 2016

Francofonia is a brilliant meditation on art, on war - and what happens to art when nations go to war. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Apr 8, 2016

Sokurov is a playful philosopher. If his playfulness is sometimes juvenile – as in those Napoleon scenes, or, worse, in the scenes of an actress playing Marianne, the spirit of France, exhorting, “Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood” – at least he’s not stuffy. Read full review

John Bleasdale

Sep 19, 2015

Francofonia is a chatty and occasionally brilliant rumination on art, history and death. Read full review

Sean Nam

Mar 28, 2016

For all its congratulatory spirit, the film has the persistent feeling of an elegy bidding adieu to a bygone time. Read full review

The Film Stage Tommaso Tocci

Apr 7, 2016

The Sokurov of Francofonia seems different from his usual self — more doubtful, uncertain in his focus, perhaps more open. And the film duly mirrors the attitude of its maker, jumping from one barely formed thought to the next, tracking back, mixing things up, like we all do while visiting a museum, and letting distraction get the best of us for a minute. Read full review

Anthony Lane

Mar 28, 2016

When I first saw the movie, at a festival, it wavered on the brink of the precious. That changed on a second viewing. Most of Francofonia now seems tender, stirring, and imperilled. Read full review

Michael O'Sullivan

May 5, 2016

The director Alexander Sokurov is a visual virtuoso. So it’s odd, not to mention a bit disappointing, to find that the Russian filmmaker’s latest project, Francofonia, is so talky and, with rare exceptions, visually dull. Read full review

SEE ALL 25 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

Dzimas

Aug 17, 2016

Maybe it was because I was expecting something along the lines of Russian Ark that this film left me cold. Rather than give us the grand sweep of European history, Sokurov focuses almost entirely on the collaboration between the Louvre's director, Jaques Jaujard, and the German culturalMaybe it was because I was expecting something along the lines of Russian Ark that this film left me cold. Rather than give us the grand sweep of European history, Sokurov focuses almost entirely on the collaboration between the Louvre's director, Jaques Jaujard, and the German cultural minister, Count Franz Wolff-Metternich during WWII. Both were highly cultured men and the aim was to preserve the Louvre. Of course, much of the work had already been smuggled out of the museum and into country estates, but rather than force Jaujard to retrieve these works, Metternich makes life easy for him during Vichy France.

Sokurov uses this relationship to contrast what happened to the Hermitage, demonstrating that Germany honored French culture more than it did Russian culture. However, neither museum was a repository of purely national culture, but rather a collection of mostly ill-gotten gains, which he underscores with the recurring image of Napoleon. Sokurov lavishes a loving eye on the Babylonian statues in the Near East wing to drive his point home, and goes to the trouble of showing us on a map how Napoleon shipped these giant statures back to Paris.

Where Russian Ark was an evocation on the past through the treasures of the Hermitage, Francofonia is a subjective documentary on the value we place on art. After the premiere in Vilnius, Sokurov took a few questions. Someone asked him if he would first save the persons or the art from the sinking ship that he used as a metaphor throughout his film. Sokurov paused over this for a few seconds before finally saying humans. I doubt it, even if his good friend Captain Dirk was on board.

As both these films illustrate, art is all we have to hold us together as a people. It divides us also, but human sacrifice at the expense of great art is a no-brainer. I imagine Jaquard would have been more than willing to sacrifice himself for the treasures of the Louvre, just as many Russians did in their battle to safe Leningrad, nee St. Petersburg. The fact that Metternich played along with Jaquard's scheme also showed that he put art ahead of his own life, as I don't imagine the Fuhrer was too happy about this arrangement. Both survived to tell the tale. Unfortunately, not Captain Dirk.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 1 REVIEWS