Searching for Ingmar Bergman
Oscilloscope | Release Date: November 2, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonNov 28, 2018
Bergman fans will love this film, but the great thing about Searching for Ingmar Bergman is that budding cineastes who are curious about his work will find much value in it as well. Read full review
90
The New York TimesGlenn KennyNov 1, 2018
Enthusing over an effect Bergman used in his great 1983 “Fanny and Alexander,” the director Olivier Assayas concludes, “Art defines truth.” Just about every minute of this movie shows how that’s true. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearNov 2, 2018
(The verb in the title is not superfluous. If this movie resembles anything, it’s "Citizen Kane" — structure-wise, if not remotely aesthetically.) Read full review
80
Screen DailyAllan HunterNov 1, 2018
Margarethe Von Trotta’s many personal connections to Ingmar Bergman lend a fresh, distinctive flavour to Searching For Ingmar Bergman. The documentary explores and champions Bergman’s artistic legacy but also captures a very human portrait of a complex man. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanOct 31, 2018
It’s an investigation in the form of a highly personalized meditation. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughDec 13, 2018
Von Trotta comes closest to the object of her search when she looks at images from his movies. Especially images of the seashore. Read full review
75
Original-CinLiam LaceyDec 6, 2018
As a leading feminist voice in post-War German cinema, Von Trotta’s devotion to Bergman, the archetypal self-absorbed male genius, seems unfashionably but refreshingly forgiving. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 28, 2018
Once she gets out of her own way, von Trotta provides a generally breezy overview, appreciation and dissection of one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived. Read full review
75
TheWrapRobert AbeleNov 9, 2018
With so many documentaries on Bergman already in existence, that von Trotta has made her own uniquely inviting tour of his triumphs, anguishes, and longstanding themes — in essence a roomy portrait of the artist as an engaged, fallible searcher — is its own gift of sorts, from one acolyte of cinema to another. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzNov 1, 2018
Although Von Trotta skips around Bergman’s filmography a bit haphazardly, and touches upon his romantic proclivities in a frustratingly brief manner, there’s little room to go wrong when a film is seemingly 50 per cent composed of Bergman’s own footage. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyAlan ScherstuhlNov 8, 2018
Little here will surprise cineastes but much of it will charm them. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinNov 8, 2018
A chatty and enjoyable but decidedly nondefinitive look at one of the cinema’s most acclaimed, influential auteurs. Read full review
70
Film Journal InternationalStephen Whitty Nov 1, 2018
In the end, perhaps, von Trotta’s search for Bergman never quite finds him. But did he ever quite find himself? All he knew was that he was an artist. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyNov 2, 2018
An engaging and accessible look at one of the most important figures in cinema. Read full review
63
Slant MagazinePat BrownOct 31, 2018
Margarethe von Trotta's documentary reminds us of the reasons for Bergman's continued influence on cinema today. Read full review
60
CineVueChristopher MachellMay 17, 2019
The film’s doggedly chronological structure – at odds with its ostensible privileging of psychology over history – sometimes leaves its personal observations feeling superficial. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyNov 1, 2018
Reasonably engaging as far as it goes, Searching for Ingmar Bergman evinces great appreciation for the writer-director's legacy and offers the testimonies of numerous eminent enthusiasts, but it leaves a good deal to be desired. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloOct 31, 2018
Ultimately, the search here isn’t so much for Bergman as it is for a thesis and conclusion. Those who know nothing about the subject will learn a little. Those who know a lot will learn very little. Read full review
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