Cowards Bend the Knee or The Blue Hands
Cowards Bend the Knee or The Blue Hands Image
Metascore
82 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critics What's this?

User Score
5.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 11 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Summary: A 10-part penny dreadful, a peepshow melodrama, loosely conceived around the filmmaker's autobiography, with an aesthetic that is one part "Vampire" serial, one part psycho fever-dream. (Film Forum)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    100
    There's a new visual idea every second, each teeming with energy, pitch-dark comedy, and inspired cinematic lunacy.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    80
    There is also something rather splendid about this extended-play peep show, as if Mr. Maddin had stumbled across a hitherto lost archive of cinema's less-than-innocent past. What makes all this nostalgia for a movie history that never happened is that, as is always the case with Mr. Maddin's work, it's executed with more love than irony and not a whit of derision.
  3. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    80
    Abortion, incest, infidelity, revenge, and hockey collide at a fever pitch, juxtaposed with such frantic energy that they're pushed to the level of high comedy, funniest at its most dramatic.
  4. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    60
    The overall feel is phantasmagoric--pitched, like most of Maddin's work, in the style of a half-remembered late silent feature or early talkie.

See all 10 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 4 out of 8
  1. JohnS
    10
    If you are looking for mainstream mindless formulaic predicable and familiar, don't rent this movie. It is a true piece of original art. It is hyponotic and brilliniant, and even profound in points. But mostly its a fun experiment that works on all levels. I liked it more than "Saddest Music" too. But these movies should come with warnings. "If you are really concrete minded, you should rent something else. Stick to mainstream Hollywood products."… Expand
  2. [Anonymous]
    5
    I can honestly understand people hating this film. But I will only refund 1 hour of life per viewer... considering that is how long the movie is.
  3. JohnD.
    4
    I clearly agree that the director is quite talented and his talent for handling images shows. However, after about 10 minutes I was bored and stayed that way for the full hour. It was a long hour. I just can't recommend this to anyone.… Expand
  4. ChrisB
    0
    Maybe the critics from the Village Voice, New York Daily News, etc. find "Cowards Bend the Knee" new and interesting, but as a former Toronto art school student let me assure you it isn't. Every student art film in Toronto is a combination of two or more of the ingredients that Maddin uses; grainy black and white film stock, unnecessary nudity, emotionally uncomfortable scenes, and stilted acting. Just because it's boring and uncomfortable doesn't make it good.… Expand

See all 8 User Reviews

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