Lou Reed's Berlin (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:31
Fresh:24
Rotten:7
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: Julian Schnabel expertly captures the dark melancholy of Lou Reed's misunderstood concept album in this moving concert documentary.
Theatrical Release:Jul 18, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: The curious tale of Lou Reed's 1973 album, BERLIN, is worthy of a documentary in itself. Its trajectory from critical and commercial failure to one of the most highly regarded records in his canon... [More]
Starring: Lou Reed, Antony, Sharon Jones, Emmanuelle Seigner
Director: Julian Schnabel
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Reviews for Lou Reed's Berlin
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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Schnabel's set design, onstage projections, and postproduction add a good deal of visual noise to Reed & company's aural variety, which reproduces the album with a mixture of professional exactitude and unpredictable cacophony. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Those who admire Reed will find that Schnabel's film allows the music to speak for itself against its rather messy background. Full Review |
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 2/5 |
It's Reed's gruff and tuneless delivery that challenges one's enjoyment. Full Review |
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Reed, who's looking more and more like a Bond villain, comes close to smiling at one point, although the chances are you won't. Full Review |
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For devotees only, I'm guessing. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Reed's unmistakable lilting groan has real pain in it, hinting at a real but undisclosed personal story behind the music. Full Review |
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3/5 |
An entirely watchable concert movie, providing depressing songs are your thing. Full Review |
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3/5 |
If you don't like the music, there's nothing to see here. Full Review |
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3/5 |
If you love Lou Reed or even like Lou Reed a little, musically this film is worth your time and, unless you've got an amazing audio system at home, it should be experienced in a theatrical setting. Full Review |
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8/10 |
Performed live, the haunting material finds new life ... Schnabel has created an incredibly artistic experience out of the concert with many moments that will give you goosebumps. Full Review |
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2.5/5 |
A well made concert film that will, nevertheless, fail to satisfy Reed's many dedicated fans. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Once again a concert documentary allows those of us unable to have witnessed a monumental event to see it seemingly exactly as it took place. Full Review |
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It's direly beautiful, sometimes spine-tingling and, yes, gloomy as purgatory. Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
Reed's dour, bombastic song-suite about the lives of the drug-addicted and downtrodden steadily acquired cult cachet over the decades, peaking with its staging as a complete-album concert in 2006, which Lou Reed's Berlin documents. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Who could have guessed that nearly 35 years after its release, Lou Reed's once-reviled concept album Berlin would inspire a sold-out concert, shot with loving awe by Julian Schnabel? Full Review |
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3/4 |
Your enjoyment will hinge entirely on whether you think the album is a masterpiece or a bore. Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
For die-hard Reed fans, it's an invaluable document. Full Review |
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4/5 |
In Julian Schnabel’s grimly majestic concert film Lou Reed’s Berlin, Mr. Reed wears the deadpan smirk of a Zen master who has endured punishing Buddhist training.
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4/5 |
Schnabel and Kuras know their subject enough to know how to frame him: with space, darkness, and unyielding cool. Full Review |
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B+ |
For Reed fans -- for rock fans -- the movie is an essential document of a noteworthy event. Full Review |
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