Critic

What is film criticism for? The documentary puts that question to directors and critics, and the answers do not agree: some treat criticism as a necessary intermediary, others find it entirely useless. The film is not interested in defending a profession. It is interested in the tension between the two sides: the relationship between the person who makes a film and the person who assesses it has no settled definition, and the film keeps that unsettled. Some directors remember their bad reviews, others say they do not read them. The form is a collage of interviews: short exchanges, film clips and passages shot at festivals. Around forty people speak, among them Michel Ciment, Tom Tykwer and Babak Payami. Kleber Mendonça Filho directed. At the time he was writing film criticism for a newspaper in Recife, and after this documentary he became known for fiction: Neighbouring Sounds and Aquarius are his. Who it is for: anyone curious about films that talk about cinema, the history of criticism and festival culture. Who it is not for: viewers who want structure. The documentary is deliberately loose, argues no thesis and imposes no hierarchy on what is said.