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The Gleaners and I (2000)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 38
Fresh: 35 | Rotten: 3

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100

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

No consensus yet.

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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 2,154

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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, Art House & International, Special Interest

Directed By: Agn�s Varda

Written By: Agn�s Varda

In Theaters: Apr 6, 2001 Limited

On DVD: Jul 23, 2002

Zeitgeist Films

The Gleaners and I Trailer & Photos

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Critic Reviews for The Gleaners and I

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

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Peter Rainer

New York Magazine

Top Critic

The Gleaners and I is a film well worth finding.

February 21, 2002 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News

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Chris Vognar

Dallas Morning News

Top Critic

Charged with the pleasure of discovery.

December 17, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

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Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

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

June 27, 2001 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

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Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Top 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

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Edward Guthmann

San Francisco Chronicle

Top 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

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Michael Wilmington

Chicago Tribune

Top 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

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Jeffrey Overstreet

Looking Closer

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

March 24, 2010 Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews

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Jeffrey Chen

ReelTalk Movie Reviews

A moving humanist/social conscience documentary.

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

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Dennis Schwartz

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

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James Sanford

Kalamazoo Gazette

Visually brilliant inside look at the world of food production.

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

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Michael E. Grost

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

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Joshua Tanzer

Offoffoff

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

March 10, 2003 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle

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Marjorie Baumgarten

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

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Greg Muskewitz

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

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Urban Cinefile Critics

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

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Nathaniel Rogers

Film Experience

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Gleaners and I

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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

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