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Tuvalu

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 12 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
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.
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
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...
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
A concept executed with bravura style, intelligent curiosity, and playful wit.
Read Full Review >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.
Film Threat Merle Bertrand
Ultimately a rewarding -- if weird -- experience. It's just too bad that it takes so long to get there.
Read Full Review >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.
Chicago Tribune Patrick Z. McGavin
It is filled with imposing and beautiful imagery, though it becomes increasingly monotonous.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
This one-of-a kind charmer casts an immediate and delightful spell.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A disappointment, a precious and grotesque exercise reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Delicatessen," only less amusing.
Read Full Review >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.
