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Tuvalu

EMAILPRINTIndican Releasing

Tuvalu reviews
58
9.7 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 12 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Romance

Written by: Veit Helmer
Michaela Beck

Directed by: Veit Helmer

Release Date:
Theatrical: December 7, 2001
DVD: September 24, 2002

Running Time: 100 minutes, Color / BW

Origin: Germany

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Denis Lavant, Chulpan Khamatova, Philippe Clay, Terrence Gillespie, E.J. Callahan, Djoko Rosic, Catalina Murgea, and Todor Georgiev

A black and white "silent" comedy told only with images and international dialogue.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

A concept executed with bravura style, intelligent curiosity, and playful wit.

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88

Boston Globe Janice Page

Astounding. It is also bizarre, challenging, and, at times, admirably overreaching. In short, it's the kind of ambitious little film that can leave critics in a swoon and American moviegoers scratching their heads.

70

Film Threat Merle Bertrand

Ultimately a rewarding -- if weird -- experience. It's just too bad that it takes so long to get there.

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67

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Has its own peculiar charm.

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63

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

It may take a half-hour to get one's bearings, but there's a payoff in the subsequent charm of this nearly wordless, surreal comedy set in a decrepit bathhouse in Bulgaria.

63

Chicago Tribune Patrick Z. McGavin

It is filled with imposing and beautiful imagery, though it becomes increasingly monotonous.

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60

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Helmer's wildly whimsical debut film, Tuvalu, is the kind of movie that might one day find itself in the hall of fame of surreal movie weirdness alongside cult favorites like "Eraserhead," "Delicatessen" and the avant-garde frolics of Guy Maddin.

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60

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

This one-of-a kind charmer casts an immediate and delightful spell.

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60

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The film's tone is a matter of taste -- the more you enjoy the melancholy silent comedies of Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, the more likely you are to embrace its sensibility -- but it's undeniably the product of a singular and beautifully realized vision.

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50

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

It's always risky to characterize a new film as "unique," but Tuvalu, the debut feature from German director Veit Helmer, has as good a shot as any at claiming that label.

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40

LA Weekly Ron Stringer

Allusive as all hell, Tuvalu's slapstick allegory of European socioeconomic upheaval in the 20th century opens with a spoof of "Breaking the Waves" lofty coda, then races through a mise en scène that's equal parts Tarkovsky, Méliès and the Brothers Quay.

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25

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A disappointment, a precious and grotesque exercise reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Delicatessen," only less amusing.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jane gave it a 10:
It's really poetic, charming and very special.

Kent S. gave it a 10:
Extraordinary, inventive, funny, sly, wonderful pacing.

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