Nostalgia for the Light
Icarus Films | Release Date: March 18, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
91
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonSep 30, 2015
As a work of nonfiction, it deserves its own nomenclature. "Docu-poem" is too inelegant; "masterpiece" works, although it's been used before. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn HornadaySep 30, 2015
Gracefully moving between the infinite and the practical, the celestial and the implacably grounded, Guzman has created a sensitive, richly textured portrait of time and place that transcends both those conceits. Read full review
100
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 30, 2015
The network of links he builds, and the film’s ever-deepening empathy for those whose search can’t be satisfied, are persuasive enough to banish doubt, leaving you humbled, shocked and moved. Read full review
100
Time Out LondonDave CalhounSep 30, 2015
Everything about this film makes you look with fresh eyes at the familiar. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 30, 2015
It is deeply intelligent, intensely and painfully political, and yet attempts, and succeeds, somehow to transcend politics and perhaps even history itself. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungSep 30, 2015
What comes out of this unlikely comparison between astronomy and history is a totally new perspective, something broader, with glimpses into deeper meanings. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliMay 12, 2011
Nostalgia for the Light is a strange and stunning work of art: a poem disguised as a movie about astronomers in the Atacama desert of Chile. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranApr 21, 2011
A film of rare visual poetry that's simultaneously personal, political and philosophical, it's a genuine art film that's also unpretentious and easygoing. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMar 17, 2011
The film's passionate insistence on remembrance lends it a moral as well as a metaphysical weight. Mr. Guzmán's belief in eternal memory is an astounding leap of faith. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSep 30, 2015
Guzmán creates an interesting dialectic between the different searchers profiles, uniting them under an umbrella of humanism and cautious hopefulness. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJun 9, 2011
What starts out as a beautifully depopulated filmic exercise - it's 14 minutes into the movie before Guzman introduces any people - becomes toward the end a nearly unbearable examination of good and bad in the human heart. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayMar 17, 2011
It's also poetic and meditative in a way that never feels pretentious. Read full review
80
CineVueDaniel GreenSep 30, 2015
By utilising a Herzogian blend of existentialist narration with the addition of numerous well-structured interviews (both academic and candid), Guzmán opens up the floor - and skies - to a frank and painfully honest discourse on Chile's past, present and future. Read full review
80
Total FilmTom DawsonSep 30, 2015
Drawing on the testimonies of some fascinating interviewees, and filled with dazzling digital images of galaxies and landscapes, it’s a film that makes you ponder the mysteries of human existence anew. Read full review
80
VarietyBoyd van HoeijSep 30, 2015
Part of the beauty of Nostalgia is that the many metaphors and surprising parallels between the universe, archaeology and Chile’s recent past rise organically from the material. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid ParkinsonSep 30, 2015
A truly insightful art film that still manages to be easy-going and unpretentious. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichMar 15, 2011
A moving meditation on history, knowledge and mortality. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonMar 15, 2011
Often stark and ravishing, Nostalgia for the Light is most moving as a manifestation of the filmmaker's stubborn righteousness. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen ColeMar 15, 2011
Patricio Guzmán's documentary, Nostalgia for the Light, pays equal attention to the astronomers and searchers, regarding their quest as the same – a search for life. Read full review
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