Rotten Tomatoes Logo Do you want to see ‘The Gleaners and I’?

The Gleaners and I (2000)

tomatometer

100

Average Rating: 7.9/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 0

No consensus yet.

audience

86

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 2,122

My Rating

Movie Info

Both a diary and a kind of extended essay on poverty, thrift and the curious place of scavenging in French history and culture--a documentary capturing the world of French gleaners who collect and make use of what others have discarded.

Unrated, 1 hr. 22 min.

Documentary, Drama, Special Interest

Agnès Varda

Jul 23, 2002

Zeitgeist Films

All Critics (42) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (3) | DVD (4)

[A] lyrically ramshackle essay about people, including Varda herself, who don't fit into society's cubbyholes.

September 26, 2002 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Gleaners and I is a film well worth finding.

February 21, 2002 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | Comment
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Charged with the pleasure of discovery.

December 17, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

For the most part, Varda's home movie is a simple and sweet thing.

June 27, 2001 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Varda's subject matter is surprisingly rich, but it's her own energetic, curious nature that gives the film its snap.

June 11, 2001 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

In its frames, we see [Varda's] empathy, skill, curiosity, wit, poetry and passion for life: everything she has gleaned from a lifetime of love and movies.

May 12, 2001 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | Comment
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Varda is, herself, a gleaner. Her eyes are her tools, and her camera is her basket. Insatiably curious, she seeks, finds, redeems. ... When we pay attention, attention pays.

November 23, 2011 Full Review Source: Looking Closer | Comment
Looking Closer

A tribute to all the people who think outside the box.

March 24, 2010 Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | Comment
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

A moving humanist/social conscience documentary.

September 12, 2009 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

strings together observations about psychotherapy, freeway traffic and the origins of cinema while opening our eyes to a subculture few of us ever think about.

September 28, 2005 Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | Comment
Kalamazoo Gazette

Visually brilliant inside look at the world of food production.

December 13, 2004 Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | Comment
Classic Film and Television

A pleasure to watch - part documentary, part personal essay, part unguided tour. It's a chance to understand ourselves differently by seeing the things we choose not to use.

March 11, 2003 Full Review Source: Offoffoff | Comment
Offoffoff

The Gleaners and I shows Varda in full flower, ever reaping what she has sown.

March 10, 2003 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | Comment
Austin Chronicle

However rudimentary her thesis on the subject is, Varda is able to explore her interest, pass it on to the viewer and still give them something to learn about.

October 14, 2002 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

A bewitching documentary that mischievously fuses the past with the present, the rich with the poor, the idle with workaholic

July 18, 2002 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment
Urban Cinefile

Varda draws a neat parallel between the collective urge and her own career in filmmaking.

May 31, 2002 Full Review Source: Film Experience | Comment
Film Experience
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Gleaners and I

a lovely documentary/road movie on the theme of recycling society's castoffs. director varda travels france examining the lifestyle, from the ancient custom of gleaning the fields after harvest to modern 'freegans' and artists using salvaged junk. fascinating characters, not least the filmmaker herself, who sees her

July 5, 2010
rubystevens
Stella Dallas

Super Reviewer

This lovely, whimsical documentary is director Agnes Varda's tribute to the quaint practice of "gleaning" -- sifting through others' harvested farmland for leftover fruits and vegetables. This gentle foraging is not stigmatized like digging through trash (in fact, it's often presented as a commendable effort to cut

October 23, 2009
Eric Broome

Super Reviewer

The Gleaners and I Quotes

No quotes approved yet for The Gleaners and I. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Movies Like The Gleaners and I

Latest News for The Gleaners and I

What's Hot On RT

Critics Consensus
Critics Consensus

Journey 2 Not Worth the Trip

Luis Guzman
Luis Guzman

What are his 10 best movies ever?

<em>Amazing Spider-Man</em>
Amazing Spider-Man

See the all-new action-packed trailer!

The Avengers!
The Avengers!

Five new Marvelous pictures

Top Movie Quizzes

LEGO Mania: 2011 Best Picture Nominees
by natalie - 18,590 taken
created 12 months ago
How Much Do You Know About Leonardo DiCaprio?
by natalie - 44,505 taken
created 15 months ago
Pixar Movies!
by jdikwlzviv - 27,194 taken
created 15 months ago
The Wizards of Harry Potter
by jdikwlzviv - 27,687 taken
created 15 months ago

Foreign Titles

  • Die Sammler und die Sammlerin (DE)
  • The Gleaners and I (Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse) (UK)
Help | About | Jobs | Newsletter | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Blog | Developers | Mobile