Back to Normandy is never less than an extraordinary journey through time, memory and the repercussions of a baffling, bygone crime.
Comment
07/25/08
Back to Normandy (2008)
88 %
Reviews Counted: 16 Fresh: 14 Rotten:2 Average Rating: 6.5/10
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Theatrical Release: Jul 25, 2008 Limited
Genre: Education/General Interest
Director: Nicolas Philibert
Reviews
1 - 16 (sorted by date)
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.
07/25/08
The testimony of Normandy’s subjects is always fascinating; Philibert proves that not all directors should wade in the same river twice.
07/24/08
It is rather awesomely evident that when the cameras left, life -- and death -- simply went on.
07/23/08
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.
07/21/08
Intriguing and occasionally moving film with a strong central idea and some engaging interviewees.
01/25/08
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.
01/18/08
A generous portrait of a community, past and present, reflecting on their unexpected contribution to the cinema.
01/18/08
A leisurely and reflective film filled with warmth and respect for its subjects.
01/18/08
Philibert lets the interviewees ramble and the fly-on-the-wall business feels totally random.
01/18/08
A typically detailed profile of people creating something remarkable together.
01/18/08
Viewers should be won over by the director’s warm humanity, puckish sense of humour and rich appetite for contingent associations.
10/06/07
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.
05/28/07
Not so much an entertainment or even an illumination, but rather a personal cinematic scrapbook, which should be stamped 'return to sender.'
05/25/07
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.
05/24/07
Top Critic1 - 16 (sorted by date)
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