Prisoner of Paradise
Menemsha Entertainment | Release Date: December 12, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
2
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Its uniqueness lies in its juxtaposition of happy faces and unhappy realities, of fleeting expressions of art and culture undone by daily brutality. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Gripping documentary. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
A fascinating and painful account of an entertainer trapped not only by his Jewishness but by his overwhelming need to make theater. Read full review
80
VarietyKen Eisner
An important and smoothly mounted meditation on moral choices within the entertainment biz. Read full review
80
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The contrast between Holm's pearly speech and the dark things that he tells us and that we see almost outlines twentieth-century civilization, elevation and brutality at opposite ends of the spectrum. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
An extraordinary documentary about the German entertainer Kurt Gerron, has been timed to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Week, but the film would also fit snugly on a double bill with "My Architect." Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Gerron's terrible film was never shown in the places it was meant for, but in Prisoner of Paradise it reveals a queasy corner of the Nazi mind that tried to imagine a concentration camp as it fantasized the inmates might have. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The excuse given here that Gerron couldn't resist one last opportunity to direct, even under the most grotesque circumstances, is really no excuse at all. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
What distinguishes Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender's film from the many similarly themed efforts that have preceded it is that it tells a morality tale of a man whose hubris partially led to his downfall and whose willingness to work for his Nazi overseers resulted in one of the most notorious propaganda films of the era. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A strange story wrapped in a stranger one, an engrossing documentary about one of the least known and most unexpected aspects of the Nazi war against the Jews. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Seems to just drift to a close rather than pronounce an end. This can be a result of wrestling with a daunting subject and not being up to its demands. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
While Prisoners of Paradise gives us but an impression of Gerron's state of mind, the film does a powerful job of showing us how deflated, small, and desperate this boisterous man had become. Read full review
38
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Frustratingly superficial. Read full review
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