National Gallery

Name: National Gallery
Genre: History, Documentary
Released: November 5, 2014
Duration: 180 min
Rating: 89

2014

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Universal acclaim based on 22 Critic Reviews

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Universal acclaim based on 4 Ratings

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8.3

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8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 4 Ratings

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National Gallery

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Movie Details & Credits

Zipporah Films | Release Date: November 5, 2014 | Not Rated

Summary: The National Gallery in London is one of the great museums of the world with 2400 paintings from the 13th to the end of the 19th century. Almost every human experience is represented in one or the other of the paintings. The sequences of the film show the public in various galleries; the education programs, and the scholars, scientists andThe National Gallery in London is one of the great museums of the world with 2400 paintings from the 13th to the end of the 19th century. Almost every human experience is represented in one or the other of the paintings. The sequences of the film show the public in various galleries; the education programs, and the scholars, scientists and curators, studying, restoring and planning the exhibitions. The relation between painting and storytelling is explored.… Expand

Director: Frederick Wiseman

Genre(s): History, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 180 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

RogerEbert.com Glenn Kenny

Nov 7, 2014

Like the Maysles brothers, like Shirley Clarke, like D.A. Pennebaker at his heights, Wiseman has created a body of work that proves him a great filmmaker, period. His latest picture, National Gallery, is a typically lucid, graceful and unobtrusively multi-tiered work. Read full review

100

Peter Rainer

Nov 21, 2014

Frederick Wiseman’s documentary National Gallery is for art lovers, movie lovers – basically for anybody. Ostensibly a film about London’s famous museum, it’s really about the experience of art in all its manifestations. Read full review

100

Mark Asch

Feb 14, 2022

Wiseman shows us the “how” of art appreciation, from politics to philosophy, in a film vast in scope, and richly suggestive in insight. Read full review

James Lattimer

Nov 2, 2014

In the style of an ambling, yet entirely focused visitor, the film continually circles back to pictures, protagonists, and situations to furnish them with new meanings, alter their perception, or even directly challenge their previous presentation. Read full review

Mike D'Angelo

Nov 4, 2014

Unlike Wiseman’s greatest films, National Gallery never quite finds an overarching theme. There’s a fair amount of material regarding the art/commerce divide, but many scenes have no bearing whatsoever on that subject, and the film generally lacks urgency. Read full review

David Ehrlich

Nov 3, 2014

The ultimate value of the famed filmmaker’s latest documentary—a subject National Gallery turns into a reflexive concern—is not that Wiseman makes it possible for a broader audience to see these priceless works of art, but that the scope of his project invites all audiences to look at them through an illuminating new lens. Read full review

David Lewis

Dec 18, 2014

For art lovers, though, there is plenty to savor. Read full review

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joelgreenberg

Jan 5, 2015

National Gallery was twice as long for me as it needed to be - i say this with the full knowledge that my own lack of background didn't help.
i most enjoyed the brief scenes during which staff puzzled how best to reach a wider audience - i would place myself in that category - and i thinkNational Gallery was twice as long for me as it needed to be - i say this with the full knowledge that my own lack of background didn't help.
i most enjoyed the brief scenes during which staff puzzled how best to reach a wider audience - i would place myself in that category - and i think the debate will probably continue for the life of the gallery, frankly.
extended scenes that detailed restoration techniques left me panting for something more visceral/emotional, but i was probably already restless by then..
perhaps had a critic friend of mine advised me to see the film, one he cited as among the year's very best, i might have been more engaged.
i was not alone, however, in my response - there was a trickle of exiting bodies from about the 75-minute mark.… Expand

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