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Movies / On DVD / Back To Normandy
Back To Normandy

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Back To Normandy (2007)

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Reviews Counted:17

Fresh:15

Rotten:2

Average Rating:6.6/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Jul 25, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: Nicolas Philibert, the director of TO BE AND TO HAVE, stays in documentary territory with this engaging film. Decades before BACK TO NORMANDY, Philibert worked as an assistant director on the film... Nicolas Philibert, the director of TO BE AND TO HAVE, stays in documentary territory with this engaging film. Decades before BACK TO NORMANDY, Philibert worked as an assistant director on the film I, PIERRE RIVIÈRE, HAVING SLAUGHTERED MY MOTHER, MY SISTER AND MY BROTHER… The film's director, René Allio, used nonprofessional actors to recreate the historical events surrounding a horrific event in 1935. Now, 30 years later, Philibert returns to the French countryside to find the cast of the original film. [More]

Director: Nicolas Philibert

Director: Nicolas Philibert

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Release:

Mar 3, 2009

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Reviews for Back To Normandy

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1 - 17 (sorted by date)
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It's a bit too convenient to credit Philibert's film with Proustian significance, but this particular remembrance has been constructed with similar profundity.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
02/05/09
Jeff Shannon
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times

Back to Normandy is never less than an extraordinary journey through time, memory and the repercussions of a baffling, bygone crime.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
07/25/08
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The doc becomes an ode to the film the cast collectively made and iterates what power and range a camera can have in front as well as behind the scenes.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
07/25/08
Matthew Nestel
Matthew Nestel
Boxoffice Magazine

The testimony of Normandy’s subjects is always fascinating; Philibert proves that not all directors should wade in the same river twice.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
07/24/08
Melissa Anderson
Melissa Anderson
Time Out New York

It is rather awesomely evident that when the cameras left, life -- and death -- simply went on.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
07/23/08
Michelle Orange
Michelle Orange
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With Back to Normandy, a nostalgic travelogue with philosophical aspirations, director Nicolas Philibert not only returns to the scene of a crime but the scene of a movie shoot.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
07/21/08
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

Intriguing and occasionally moving film with a strong central idea and some engaging interviewees.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
01/25/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Granted, Philibert’s free-roaming approach is as languid as a weekend ramble. But his warm, tender, patient film finds much to move and chew on in the mulch and mire of rustic matters.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
01/18/08
Kevin Harley
Kevin Harley
Total Film

A generous portrait of a community, past and present, reflecting on their unexpected contribution to the cinema.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
01/18/08
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph

A sophisticated meditation on community, transgression and the law.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/18/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

A leisurely and reflective film filled with warmth and respect for its subjects.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
01/18/08
Tom Dawson
Tom Dawson
Channel 4 Film

Philibert lets the interviewees ramble and the fly-on-the-wall business feels totally random.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/18/08
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC

A typically detailed profile of people creating something remarkable together.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/18/08
Patrick Peters
Patrick Peters
Empire Magazine

Viewers should be won over by the director’s warm humanity, puckish sense of humour and rich appetite for contingent associations.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
10/06/07
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

A self-effacing figure, Philibert never imposes himself on the film, preferring to stress the communal experience of its creation and the very human stories that have emerged from his return journey.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
05/28/07
Allan Hunter
Allan Hunter
Screen International

Not so much an entertainment or even an illumination, but rather a personal cinematic scrapbook, which should be stamped 'return to sender.'

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
05/25/07
Duane Byrge
Duane Byrge
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A straightforward docu with a slightly mystical heart, Back to Normandy plays like a meticulous personal project on which we are permitted to eavesdrop.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/24/07
Lisa Nesselson
Lisa Nesselson
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 17 (sorted by date)
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