Family Portrait In Black And White Reviews

It's a fascinating story, fascinatingly told.

Full Review | Original Score: B+

The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe, anyone? But where the film leads as if by chance in a surprising second direction, is an ideological conflict running parallel to racial issues. Namely, this mom's post-Soviet longing for allegiance to the collective.

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A documentary about the refusal of one woman to cater to the prejudices of Ukrainian society and an inspiration to all of us in a badly decomposing civilization.

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Frustrating, but it gets high marks for honesty.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Portrait In Black And White tries to capture the dynamic between Nenya and her children, as well as their family and the hostility of neighbors and government bureaucrats, but the footage doesn't cut together well.

Full Review | Original Score: C+

Riveting viewing.

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Julia Ivanova doesn't judge her subject, refusing to see her through the eyes of a presumably better-off first-world citizen.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

It should be incumbent on director Julia Ivanova to provide focus. Instead she is all over the narrative maps, finding scattered dots and leaving the connections to the viewer.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Though only 85 minutes, the film captures an entire, bewilderingly extended family and way of life inside a sturdy frame.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Looks at a Ukrainian family of one single mom and a huge brood of children and finds that love grows exponentially.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4