I have a hard time with documentaries. I do appreciate the form, but I bristle at the belief, held by some, that documentaries speak truth in a way that fiction films don't (same goes for books). There is no such thing as an unbiased documentary, but some filmmakers do try more than others, or at least acknowledge the bias. In that respect, I think that Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present is at least somewhat honest; one of Marina's assistants…

The film follows Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović as she prepares for, then stages, her 2010 'The Artist is Present' piece where visitors to New York's Museum of Modern Art were invited to sit on a chair opposite her for as long as they wished, without speaking or performing, just looking into the artist's eyes as she gazed intently back.

'The Artist is Present' was the one new piece in a major retrospective of Abramović's work at MoMA, and this…

Film #62 Of The December Project.

I didn't love this doco. In particular, I am not particularly a fan of performance art in general. Whipping yourself, or a lot of the other stuff Marina talks about doing in this doco, just seems weird and kind of ridiculous. I also think, on a basic level, making people pay to sit down and look at you is a little, I don't know, arrogant.

This last point doesn't matter though, because as I…

Marina Abramovic is often described as a provocateur, which is why its such a surprise to find her so human and charming in this documentary.

Filmed before and during her retrospective at MoMA, it examines Abramovic's creative past and her break up with the artist Ulay, with whom she had a twelve year professional and romantic relationship.

All three acts of the film are fascinating - scenes of her early work (carving shapes into her bare flesh), her reunion with…

I need to watch more documentaries. There are so many great ones but 95% of the time I pick a narrative film over a doc; I should work on that.

This is a well done documentary about performance artist Marina Abramovic that revolves around her exhibit at MoMa in 2010. It's playing in select theaters and also on HBO(so try and DVR it).

As long as you are open to art and don't roll your eyes at the general notion,…

Filma, kas, manuprāt, (atvainojiet) būtu pelnījusi Oskaru dokumentālo filmu kategorijā - pārliecinoši kinematogrāfiskiem līdzekļiem atrisināts stāsts, arī informatīvā un tekstuālā daļa, kas daudzos ( arī nu jau Oskarotā Searching for Sugar Man) gadījumos neglābjami ieslīgst "runājošo galvu" stilistikā bez adekvātas kino valodas klātbūtnes. Filmas kulminatīvā daļa, manuprāt, ir Abramovičas akcijas - "sēdēšanas ar skatītājiem"- askētiskā, bez jebkādiem ārējiem vipendroniem, bet iekšēji dramatiski uzspriegotā fiksācija, kuras virsotne ir divskats ar bijušo vīru, mākslinieku Ulanu.
Līdztekus veiksmīgam balansam starp formu un saturu…