Popular reviews

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  Review by TheOperator ★★★★½ 8

  Too short

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  Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★★½

  Wiseman's sets out to do two contradictory but equally essential things: City Hall is a defense of the importance of state presence and the good of public servants to serve community and at same time it slowly set ups the ways in which as well run as Boston might be and as much as the mayor might have a great rethoric about inclusion, it still isn't enough, all that effort great as it is doesn't really covers everyone equally. So it is both a high praise for the ways the state is present and caustic commentary in the ways it still isn't (how much it is either one of those is something open to audiences and how each one feels…

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  Review by KYK ★★★½

  1) get frederick the vaccine ASAP.

  2) i'm always in awe of how incisive he is with such behemoth subjects (with such matter-of-fact titles!) and he pulls it off by laying out all the mess, here one sprawling meeting at a time.

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  Review by Kyle Faulkner 12

  The illusion of relative neutrality in Wiseman is quickly dispelled upon gaining an understanding of his philosophy, that while his subjects are never manipulated, the very structuralism of filmmaking is by nature manipulative, hence his rejection of terms like vérité and to a large degree even documentary. Wiseman is a human with identity, as much a character as everyone else in his cosmic play, consciously seeking out the drama of the everyday as he assembles his portraits of one American (occasionally Parisian and one-time UK) cultural institution after another. A largesse toward the people who continually consent to appear in his work and a fidelity to 'direct' experience stripped of agenda when editing has resulted in perhaps the most painstaking…

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  Review by Chaim Kindergelt 1

  A scene close to the end Displays a community meeting in reference with a soon-to-open dispensary. Wiseman plays out this in full, ensuring the variance of angers, frustrations, fatigues, are given their space to make distinction for themselves. This is in contrast to the prior focus on very systematically orchestrated bureaucracy, very assured democratic sentiments. The rift laid bare is clear, incisive and, in the moment of realization, when we are confronted with such unfamiliar behavior in the context of the film, striking ardently at the alienation of a government from the people they insist are represented by and  employers of said body politic.

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  Review by harron ★★★★ 2

  Fun fact: I nearly bodychecked the diminutive Frederick Wiseman at TIFF in 2017 when I was running around a corner to get to my seat, so you can thank my quick reflexes that he's still alive and this movie exists.

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★½

  Groundbreaking documentarian Frederick Wiseman has created another magnificent documentary which is abounding in ritual impetuses of the myriad of responsibilities and interests tied to Bostons administrative building; where the personnel inside desire to conserve or salvage constituents' confidence. 

  It's a fascinating four-and-a-half-hour examination of issues such as homelessness, racial justice as well as the city's environmental efforts to name just a few of its interests. The ninety-year-old filmmaker transmits plenty of energy in his return to the kind of diverse urban neighbourhood documentary which he's charted so incredibly during a prestigious career stretching back to 1967's Titicut Follies.

  His camera employs his typical day-to-day observational technique, and he swings from eavesdropping on conferences with city employees who are earnestly attempting…

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  Review by Stephen Gillespie ★★★ 13

  Originally posted on my blog.

  Revered documentarian Frederick Wiseman’s four and a half hour documentary about Boston’s city government ends up, frustratingly, as too reflective of its subject. This is a well meaning, extremely competently put together thing that is often fascinating but, ultimately, is so unwieldy and talky that it never really gets anything done.

  This is an exhaustive, fly on the wall look at everyday process and, to be honest, it is just a lot. The idea seems to be (I say ‘seems’ because the presentational approach eschews any obvious intent) to show process, importance and a little bit of hope. It focuses almost entirely on constructive, community efforts. We see vignettes about important issues being discussed and…

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  Review by 🐱Andrew Chrzanowski🐱 ★★★★½ 2

  ☆"People didn't understand all the work that we're doin'. And, like, I don't think we do a good enough job of telling that story."☆

  Government is good.

  That's a hot take nowadays, but it's true. I'm not talking about politicians, or parties, or really any individuals or certain groups. I mean government as a whole. It is good, it is needed, it is worth understanding. Frederick Wiseman in City Hall doesn't attempt to tell you these things, but like all his objectively filmed documentaries it will show them to you. And it's another brilliant addition to the filmography of this legendary and uniquely American director. What Cahiers du Cinéma called the best film of 2020 is an essential watch for…

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  Review by Mike Kennedy ★★★★½ 3

  The day after a six week national election campaign marked by a lack of policy debate and a media pack focused on making themselves the story might seem like a strange time to buckle in for a four and a half hour documentary on city government in Boston but there was a respectable number of Melburnians who were up for the challenge on Sunday afternoon.  I found it engrossing.

  In a video introduction filmed for the season of his films at the Sydney Film Festival, director, editor and co-producer Frederick Wiseman described how cinematographer John Davey filmed more than 100 hours of footage between Fall 2018 and Winter 2019, which Wiseman then took another year to edit down into the…

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  Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★

  56/100

  A.V. Club review. The usual (for recent Wiseman) mix of fascinating and tedious, extended in this case to an ass-numbing 4.5 hours. There's a good 90 minutes' worth of meetings in which you can plainly see that the people who are actually in the room would love to be elsewhere. Highlights are strong, though.

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  Review by Allison M. 🌱 ★★★½

  I'm not a fan of 4 hour long films (Wiseman challenged my bladder when I saw one of his films using MoviePass). Also, I'm not fond of the long takes which feel too raw at times. However, there were some nice moments, especially the Vietnam veteran who told a story about his mother and the mayor talking about alcoholic recovery. Ultimately, this is a story about Boston in a time when they are still recovering from the Boston Marathon bombing. Also, having visited about 11 years ago, I can attest this is one of the most difficult places finding parking, so I found the conversation on that harrowing.

  Thankful for the Thanksgiving segment on this Thanksgiving viewing of it.

  Vegan alert:
  -Shrimp lo mein
  -Man making a reference to dead rodents and killing one
  -Reference to oxtails in market

  Watched on: MUBI
  Also available on: Kanopy