A Talking Picture
  • Release Date: Dec 10, 2004
A Talking Picture Image
Metascore
75 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics What's this?

User Score
5.7 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 10 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • Summary: A young history professor and her seven-year-old daughter embark on a cruise through the Mediterranean Sea and befriend three famous women of different nationalities. (Kino International)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    100
    As a nonagenarian, de Oliveira is the world's oldest working filmmaker, and still one of the best. This is a lovely, lively, timely treat for the eyes and mind.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    80
    De Oliveira wraps A Talking Picture with a simultaneous introduction and farewell--a bold curtain-dropper that's either a bleak joke or an imprecisely controlled scream of rage.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    80
    A thoughtful, provocative effort that makes up for its narrative failings with its astute philosophical musings.
  4. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    60
    As a political statement it is either a cry of despair or a grim acknowledgment that in the endless cycles of history, civilization will always have its saboteurs.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 2 out of 6
  1. ChadS.
    7
    The little girl is innocent, but her mother, an academic, should've known what ownership of that doll signified. The climax is unsettling, yet its full impact is somewhat undermined by the maverick, yet ungainly way the film is structured. "A Talking Picture" sputters when we pull away from the history professor and her daughter, and centers on the small party at the captain's table. There's an intellectual reason for this gambit, but it's exceedingly long and boring. On the other hand, the exceedingly long conversations in which the mother imparts knowledge to her inquisitive little girl, either through her or with help from a local, are also tedious, but the history lessons, while boring us, act as a form of parental love.… Expand
  2. EduardR.
    7
    I thought this was an excellent film with a stark and poignant commentary on the muslims' answer to our modern civilization.
  3. DanC.
    0
    Horrible, pretentious, art-house fare. And this from a viewer who likes (good) art house movies and foreign films! This film reminds me of bad free jazz - comprehensible only to those who play (or direct) it, alienating to and dismissive of the audience, self-consciously "serious" without having a shred of entertainment or passion to it. I hated this film, all the more so becuase the premise has so much potential. But the terrible, stilted dialogue with John Malkovich and his three international ladies is at once excruciating, embarrassing, and boring. This is the kind of European film that is funded entirely by the government, makes no impact, has nothing to say, and represents the vanity of the director and little else. Zero stars.… Expand

See all 6 User Reviews

Current Movie Releases

Full List »
  1. Before Midnight
    Metascore: 95
  2. Star Trek Into Darkness
    Metascore: 72
  3. This Is the End
    Metascore: 68
  4. Iron Man 3
    Metascore: 62
  5. Fast & Furious 6
    Metascore: 61
  6. Man of Steel
    Metascore: 55
  7. The Great Gatsby
    Metascore: 55
  8. Oblivion
    Metascore: 54
  9. Epic
    Metascore: 52
  10. Peeples
    Metascore: 52
  11. Now You See Me
    Metascore: 50
  12. Pain & Gain
    Metascore: 44
  13. The Internship
    Metascore: 43
  14. The Purge
    Metascore: 41
  15. After Earth
    Metascore: 33
  16. The Hangover Part III
    Metascore: 30
  17. The Big Wedding
    Metascore: 28
  18. Scary Movie 5
    Metascore: 11
All Current Movies »