Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Impassioned Eye
Palm Pictures | Release Date: January 13, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
He rarely allowed himself to be interviewed, but Henri Cartier-Bresson, here nearing 100, comes off as a marvelous, spritely, and companionable figure. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The documentary, which subscribes to the Great Man school of reverential portraiture, is not a biography but an interview (in French, simultaneously translated into English) conceived as a master class on art appreciation, with guest commentators augmenting Cartier-Bresson's own sparsely chosen words. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Overall, it's like watching a home movie of a charming relative. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark Feeney
Pays high-toned tribute to its subject. How high-toned? Bach and Ravel play on the soundtrack as a honeyed light streams through the windows of Cartier-Bresson's Paris apartment. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
This is an ambling, relaxed talking-head docu in the grand European style. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
It isn't a biography of the legendary photographer, and it's not exactly an essay. Mostly, Bütler fills the screen with Cartier-Bresson's photographs while people explain their greatness. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleKenneth Baker
A viewer of the film misses any sense of what distinguishes a great Cartier-Bresson picture from a good one, never mind a bad one. And the photographer himself cannot have been happy with the short shrift the documentary gives to drawing, which occupied him through most of his last decades. Read full review
50
Village VoiceR. Emmet Sweeney
Such informality leads to numerous lulls, but when the photographer perks up the results are delightful. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The subtitle of this interview/documentary about the late, great French photojournalist should be "For Collectors Only." There is no theme, no point, no history, no illuminating insights - it's just Bresson talking about his individual photos and early sketches. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Deeply frustrating because of its brevity and its lack of solid information and historical context. Read full review
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